


Kill Your Past

by NorthernGhost



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Substance Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-10-23 20:14:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17690168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthernGhost/pseuds/NorthernGhost
Summary: “You don’t get to have your punk princess, not unless I die.” That’s what the ghosts of Max’s past tell her, at least.  Years after making a decision that has left her guilt-ridden and with a life spinning out of control, she starts to think there may be something to this statement.





	1. Ghosts of October Past

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> Well, this is my first time taking a stab at a "what if?" for this game that recently came about during a bout of insomnia.
> 
> This isn't exactly an "everybody lives" or "feel good" story, but technically still fits in with "trying to find a happy ending," but sometimes people don't exactly know the right way to go about doing that.
> 
> The idea is to shoot for a weekly posting (on Wednesdays, for now), although we'll see how that ends up working out.
> 
> So yeah, if you're down for a bit of a ride, then hopefully you'll come along. Fair warning, it's most definitely not full of sunshine and rainbows.

“You don’t get to have your punk princess, not unless I die.”  


Kate Marsh rose from her seat in the wooden chair across the room, a twisted smirk set in her lips.  


“And me.”  


Warren Graham appeared at the entrance to the kitchen, leaning against the counter with his arms and legs crossed in an incredibly casual manner.  


“And me.”  


Dana Ward flopped backward into the recliner by the window, folding her hands behind her head.  


Max let out a short laugh, staring around at the three teenagers confronting her with predatory smiles. The wine in the bottom of the dark red bottle in her right hand swirled idly as she rotated it, her wrist flopping recklessly, although there was far too little liquid in the bottle for it to come close to spilling from the top.  


“You all should start paying rent for how much space you take up.”  


The sound of a single, soft set of laughter came from the wooden chair across from her and she lazily brought her attention to it.  


“Now that’s just poor taste.”  


Mark Jefferson leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.  


“Max, the humor isn’t going to help anyone.”  


“Really? I think I’m hilarious.”  


As she went to stand up, her legs wobbled beneath her and she nearly pitched sideways onto the floor, but she caught herself on the arm of her couch at the last second. She checked the bottle still grasped firmly in her hand to find that it seemed just as full as before.  


“Didn’t spill a drop.”  


With a laugh that was much louder than she had intended, she placed the bottle to her lips and drained the remaining contents before slamming it down on the small, wooden table beside her couch with a great deal of force, yet somehow the glass didn’t shatter.  


“How many times have you done this?”  


Kate stood beside the now vacant wooden chair, her arms folded over her chest; Max vaguely noted that her hair seemed to be wet.  


“You try to do the same thing, each time, but you pussy out at the last second.”  


Max laughed, once again, nearly falling over, before pointing a shaking finger at the blonde girl across from her.  


“You aren’t… you ain’t getting into heaven talking like that.”  


A small bout of snide laughter came from the recliner and Max’s eyes drifted over to it to find Victoria Chase relaxing in it, one leg folded across the other knee.  


“You—” Max was interrupted by a hiccup that brought a slight burning feeling to the back of her throat, “—you can really pay for rent around here.”  


“Sorry, I don’t give to the poor.”  


Max made a noise and waved off the pixie-cut blonde before pushing herself away from the couch and staggering over to the small kitchen. She yanked the refrigerator open and stared blankly into the brightly-lit box for several moments before frowning and letting the door swing closed in front of her.  


“Guess you’re out of juice boxes.”  


She ran her hands over her face, blacking out the world for a moment or two before she let them fall by her sides, once again, and she was confronted with Warren standing beside the fridge, his arms folded as he nodded to his right.  


“Time to give it a shot?”  


Max’s eyes focused on the only thing attached to her fridge doors: a yellowed, somewhat crumpled Polaroid with a minor tear in the bottom right. She swore she could see the image of the butterfly’s wings move ever so slightly for a moment before she sighed heavily and began to turn away.  


“You would like that, wouldn’t you?”  


As she staggered through her apartment, she made a point to avoid the various teenagers that had suddenly crowded the space, leaving it incredibly claustrophobic. All of them watched her pass, their eyes glued to her, yet they remained silent.  


“Blissfully… silent…”  


Max staggered through the doorway between the wooden chair and the recliner, tumbling forward until her knees hit something soft and she fell face-first onto her bed. A sound somewhere between a drawn-out groan and a sigh escaped her before she turned her head to the side, somewhat resigned to simply remain in the position where she had fallen for the rest of the night.  


“Shame, guess there’s no show tonight.”  


Max slowly shook her head.  


“Well, see you tomorrow, then.”  


She lazily lifted a middle finger over her shoulder before letting her hand fall onto the messy, unmade sheets, once again. Her eyes slowly drifted closed for a moment before sliding open to find that the bedroom was now suddenly much brighter, a harsh, orange glow lighting the wall in front of her and immediately eliciting a groan from her. She turned her head so her face was buried in her sheets as she tried to let the flashing shapes that danced before her fade before opening them, once again.  


Once she had, she begrudgingly rolled onto her back, immediately feeling her stomach clench in protest, the familiar burning feeling appearing in the back of her throat, once again. She turned her head to the side, only for the feeling to grow worse. Max scrambled for the edge of the bed, reaching for the dark container on the floor beside it before barely leaning her face over it and vomiting. Once her stomach had stopped squeezing itself into knots, she blinked slowly. The image of the container beneath her was different than she had expected: not quite as circular, and seemingly made of cloth instead of plastic…  


Once the realization that she was staring down at her backpack, instead of her trash can, hit her, she let out a growl of irritation and buried her face in the edge of her sheets, once again.  


“Stupid… stupid… fucking…”  


With one last growl and a punch to the side of her mattress, she lifted her head and began to pull herself into a sitting position. The whole room was brightly lit by the sunrise that streamed through her windows to the left, all of which she had apparently forgotten to cover with the blinds at some point the day before.  


“So neighbors got a show last night… great.”  


She stared down at the soiled backpack for a moment or two longer before holding her breath and leaning forward to make sure nothing important had been inside. It was hard to see past its new contents, but she couldn’t make out any signs of her laptop or other useful items. When she finally leaned away from the putrid container, she let out the breath she had held, running her hands over her face, once again.  


“Might just have to throw the whole damn thing out…”  


When she turned to look toward the door to the main area of her apartment, she half-expected to find the same crowd of teenagers as last night, but the also brightly-lit room beyond was empty and silent. With a heavy sigh, she dragged herself to her feet and into the shower. Wrapped in a towel that had once been a brilliant blue color, but had now faded to a much fainter shade and sported several odd bleach stains, she re-entered her bedroom and scanned the space for signs of clothing that would most keep up the illusion that she had actually done laundry in the past two weeks.  


The final choices seemed to come down to a pair of ripped black jeans, an orange tank with a small stain on the back left side, and a black, red, and blue flannel. With a sigh, she flung the towel onto her bed, sparing one last glance at the backpack beside it, and turned to head into the main section of the apartment.  


Despite seeming rather bare, the main living room of Max’s apartment looked relatively clean, by comparison to her bedroom, if only because she never had much use for it except for sitting on one of the chairs and downing some adult fruit juice. She made a face at the old, faded furniture before heading to her kitchen, where some of the disaster from her bedroom returned. Dishes sat piled three or four high in the sink, while some random silverware and Tupperware lids lay scattered about the small counter space. The outer door of the microwave was a faded white color with obvious grime stains from both food spills and general use, but she didn’t want to even think about the inside.  


“Of course, nothing, because you can’t be bothered to drag your ass to the grocery store,” she growled, shutting the door to the mostly empty fridge.  


Max was immediately confronted with the image fastened to the front of the door, prompting her to scowl slightly and flick the corner of the yellowing polaroid absently.  


“Fuck you.”  


The sound of cheery, electronic music suddenly rang throughout the room as Max pat her front and back pockets before cursing under her breath and searching the space frantically. Finally, she made her way into the bedroom and rushed into the bathroom, grabbing the pair of jeans she had worn the day before from the floor and digging into the back right pocket to remove the vibrating and ringing cell phone.  


Without even looking at the name on the front, she slid the call button across the screen and held it to her ear.  


“Hello?”  


“You’re up early.”  


She sighed, rubbing her eyes as she walked back into the bedroom, throwing the jeans in her hand onto the bed with the towel.  


“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”  


“You know, when we’ve made plans before…”  


“I know, I know, I… I’m trying.”  


A heavy sigh came over the phone as Max leaned her head back, staring up at her ceiling as she waited for the call to continue.  


“I’m only asking because I’m worried about you.”  


“You and fifteen other people.”  


“Really? Name them.”  


“Ha ha,” Max replied dryly, taking a seat on the end of her bed.  


“Max, I’m not trying to vilify you here, okay?”  


“I know, I know, but—”  


“I’ve heard it, Max. I guarantee it. Whatever you were about to say. I’ve heard it before.”  


Max sighed, hanging her head for a moment before clearing her throat.  


“So… does that mean…?”  


“Our plans are still on. Don’t think that’s your way of getting out of them.”  


“I wasn’t!”  


Another sigh came over the phone, but something told Max that it wasn’t quite so exasperated this time, but perhaps somewhat amused.  


“Well, you’ve got thirty minutes to be here or you’re technically late.”  


“Wait, here? As in, like, you’re already… there?”  


“Yes, Max.”  


“Fuck!”  


“I’ll see you soon.”  


Max didn’t even acknowledge the last comment as she hung up the call and glanced at her home screen.  


“Fifteen percent? Jesus…”  


She searched wildly for a minute before managing to find a pair of socks that didn’t sport a large amount of dust bunnies attached to them. As she staggered into the living room while trying to put the second one on, she began to pitch forward and barely stopped herself in time before she landed on the couch across from her. She used the momentum, however, to roll off the piece of furniture and rush toward the door, skidding to a halt beside it in time to grab a pair of black sneakers that had most definitely seen better days and jam her feet into them. The laces were always tied, and the heels had nearly given out from her haphazard method of putting them on, but they somehow seemed to still remain on her feet once they were in place.  


“Phone…”  


She glanced around for a moment before slamming her hand down on a small, black wallet on her countertop.  


“Wallet…”  


As her gaze swept around the room, she began to panic, patting at her pockets more insistently.  


“Keys, keys, keys…”  


Suddenly, she noticed a small envelope on the floor just inside her door. With a look of confusion, she crouched down, swiping it up to the sound of a soft, metallic jingle from within. She flipped it over to find her name written in a fancy, cursive font. The look of confusion didn’t lessen as she popped the top open and turned it over. A moment later, her small ring of keys and a single, short piece of paper fell from the envelope into her palm.  


“Uh…”  


Max tossed the envelope in the general direction of the trash can beside her fridge before flipping the small piece of paper over to find a short note on the other side.  


“Max, found these in your door this morning. Figured you didn’t want anyone else breaking into your apartment. Greta.”  


A groan escaped her lips as she tilted her head back, closing her eyes.  


“Jesus Christ, again?”  


With a heavy sigh, she looked back down at the note before sliding it in her back pocket.  


“Well, one mystery solved.”  


With that, she hurried through the door, bringing it closed a little harder than she had intended and wincing before quickly locking the deadbolt and the doorknob. Just as she turned to head toward the stairs, the sound of another door opening caused her to stop, her eyes closing as she sighed deeply.  


“I see you got my note, Max?”  


She slowly turned around to find a young woman with sandy blonde hair pulled into a ponytail and holding a cup of coffee in a rather oversized blue mug staring at her from the doorway across and one down from her own. The woman’s expression held no trace of anger or annoyance, which only made Max squirm more.  


“Y-yeah, I did,” she finally managed. “Thanks, Greta.”  


“Good,” the woman nodded, smiling slightly. “I was concerned when I came home and just saw them there.”  


“Well, I’m glad the person who found them first was you, I guess.”  


Max laughed, but something about it felt off to her, and she quickly stopped, instinctually raising one hand to grip the opposite elbow.  


“Listen, I have to meet a friend…”  


“Don’t let me keep you,” Greta said quickly, eyes widening slightly. “Just wanted to make sure everything was okay.”  


Max laughed dryly, beginning to turn back in the direction of the stairs.  


“I mean, everything’s still as messed up as usual, but my apartment wasn’t robbed and I have my keys back. Thanks!”  


She didn’t wait for any sort of response from Greta before rushing down the single flight to the ground floor and slipping past a man with long, curly hair as he entered the building. The sunlight on the sidewalk outside seemed even brighter than her room and she grimaced, squinting her eyes against it in an attempt to see where she was going and hopefully minimize the headache that was beginning to build in her temples. As she was approaching the small street sign that designated the bus stop, the purple King County bus began to pull up to the curb. Without missing a beat, Max hopped through the opening doors and narrowly missed the man carrying several bags of groceries as he attempted to exit the vehicle.  


She turned to the side and stood on her tip-toes slightly so her back pocket brushed against the card reader at the front of the bus, falling back onto her heels once she heard the electronic beep telling her that it had managed to read her card through her wallet and the denim of her jeans. The seats were thankfully rather empty as she made her way halfway down the aisle before sliding into a seat to her right, sidling up to the window as close as she could before folding her arms in front of her and leaning her head to the side until she felt the hard glass beneath it.  


The ride from her apartment building wasn’t the most scenic, mostly consisting of old houses and apartment buildings for the first ten minutes, but once they cleared her district, she was faced with a view from the top of a larger hill leading into downtown Seattle. The sun reflected off the distant skyscrapers as her eyes scanned over the buildings before finally tracing the piers along the waterfront. She unfurled her arms and reached into her front pocket, removing her phone for a moment.  


“Ten minutes,” she muttered, stowing her phone away with a slight grimace.  


The cement and glass buildings rose higher around her until she finally pulled at the cord over the window to request the next stop. Immediately, she was confronted with the strange, salty scent of the ocean and dead fish as she wrinkled her nose. Throngs of people, a good deal of them most likely tourists, milled about Pike Place, which Max eyed warily before turning to her right and heading farther down the street.  


After she had gone several blocks, she spotted the simple, wooden sign with lettering that looked as if it had been burned into its surface and quickened her pace somewhat. As she reached for the front door, someone else opened it and she quickly pulled her hand back, hopping back a step or two, for good measure. The woman leaving jumped in surprise, her coffee cup looking unsteady for a moment before she regained her composure and nodded slightly, offering an awkward smile before slipping by Max and onto the sidewalk.  


The interior of the small coffee shop was somewhat reminiscent of the mass of bodies she had just seen at the fish market, but the overarching sense of “tourist” didn’t cling to the patrons here as it had there. Somehow, this place had remained a local-kept secret despite being all of five or six blocks from one of the busiest places in the whole city.  


Max’s gaze swept the small tables crammed into the main area of the room until she spotted the familiar head of blonde hair at one on the far wall. The occupant returned her gaze with a small wave and a grin before making a show of looking at her phone and tapping her wrist. Max rolled her eyes before stepping into line, sighing as she ran her hands back through the unruly mane of hair that she had neglected to comb or brush in any way after her shower. As her fingers finally came loose of the third knot, she frowned, shaking her head slightly.  


“Time for a cut…”  


Once her usual seasonal latte was in hand, she slipped through the crowded seating area as best she could until she reached the table she had spotted earlier and fell into the seat opposite the blonde.  


“Ten minutes late, not bad.”  


“Funny, my last boss used to say the same thing.”  


The other woman rolled her eyes, but the grin on her lips gave her away.  


“Well, I’m glad I get such royal treatment, then.”  


Max laughed, taking a sip from her cup before placing it on the table with a sigh.  


“How’s it going, Kate?”  


The blonde grinned, tapping her fingers on the edge of the small table.  


“That’s my line, Max.”  


“I didn’t think you could trademark a phrase like that.”  


Kate Marsh, decidedly more mature-looking than she had appeared in Max’s apartment the night before, laughed, scooting her chair forward slightly and folding her arms on the edge of the table before her.  


“Well, since you asked, I’m not bad,” she began. “Always feel busy. Work is… work, but it’s been worse.”  


“Wow, that is… amazingly noncommittal.”  


Kate gave her an admonishing look and Max hid her face behind taking a sip of her latte.  


“And how does it compare to your answer?”  


“To what?”  


“The same question.”  


Max took another sip from her drink before sighing and placing it off to the side of the table, her right thumb tracing a somewhat larger split in the grain of the wood for a moment.  


“Like you said: it’s been worse.”  


“What has?”  


“Life.”  


She spared a glance up at Kate but quickly regretted it when she saw the expression somewhere between exasperation and helplessness on the blonde’s features.  


“Hey, I-I’m… I’m working on it…”  


“Max… I… I don’t know what else to say,” she finally sighed.  


“That’s the beauty of it, you don’t—”  


“Please don’t use that line, again.”  


Max’s mouth hung open for a moment or two longer before she slowly closed it, letting out a sigh through her nose as her shoulders slumped even more.  


“It’s… kind of true, though,” she muttered.  


“How so?”  


“You don’t have to do anything special to help.”  


Kate remained silent, clearly waiting for more of an explanation.  


“Just… checking in like this means a lot.”  


“Max…”  


One of Kate’s hands reached across the table to come to a rest on top of the brunette’s, her touch warm and soft.  


“I wish I didn’t have to keep checking in like this, but… part of me worries if I don’t…”  


Max’s eyes flicked across the table, following Kate’s arm to her face to find her brown eyes bearing one of the most pleading looks she had ever seen. The brunette wanted to say something, but her throat had suddenly gone dry, preventing her from making anything more than a soft squeak, which quickly turned into a sigh as she slid even lower in her seat. The blonde’s grip grew even more insistent on her hand as she refused to look away.  


“Max… please promise me it’s not like that.”  


She stared at the table just in front of the other woman for a moment or two before raising her gaze just enough to stare at her chin. There was no way she was going to be able to meet her eyes, full-on.  


“It’s not.”  


Kate heaved a heavy sigh, squeezing Max’s hand gently before pulling her own back across the table.  


“So,” Max finally managed, clearing her throat. “Met any hunky guys lately?”  


Kate’s expression quickly fell to exasperation as she tilted her head to the side slightly.  


“Seriously? That’s the next topic you jump to?”  


“What?”  


Max couldn’t hide the smirk on her lips, even behind her drink as Kate rolled her eyes, but also began to break out into a grin.  


“No, there haven’t,” she said. “Just normal ones.”  


“Oh la la.”  


“Nothing lasting, though.”  


“One night stands? I didn’t take you for that kind of girl—”  


“You know that’s not what I meant, Max.”  


The brunette grinned, biting the rim of her cardboard cup for a moment before taking another quick sip of the rapidly cooling drink.  


“Speaking of hunky men, though…”  


Max raised her eyebrows slightly as Kate folded her arms against the table and leaned toward her, once again.  


“Seen Dr. Rattick lately?”  


Max stared back at her for several long moments before let out a drawn-out and overly dramatic “ugh.”  


“Seriously?”  


Kate smirked, clearly enjoying herself.  


“Him and I didn’t… end on too good of terms.”  


“Oh?”  


“We couldn’t quite see eye to eye.”  


“Too tall?”  


Max scoffed, reaching across the table to hit Kate playfully on the arm.  


“Sounds like you have things other than my mental wellbeing in mind, Miss Marsh.”  


“As handsome as Dr. Rattick may or may not be,” she began, still smirking, “my interests are purely related to your wellbeing.”  


“Uh huh.”  


Silence fell over them for a few moments before Max finally cleared her throat.  


“So, uh, yeah… haven’t seen him in a bit.”  


Kate’s drew her lips into a slight frown as she shifted her position in her seat slightly.  


“Why not?”  


“Well, sessions ain’t exactly cheap…”  


“Your dad’s insurance has covered it so far…”  


“You’re impossible.”  


“I’m persistent.”  


They stared across the table at each other for a few moments before the corners of Kate’s lips began to pull into a slight smile.  


“But also maybe a little difficult.”  


“At least you finally admit it.”  


Kate mirrored Max’s actions from earlier as she scoffed and reached across the table to bat at the Brunette, who raised her hand in defense for a moment before they both retreated into their own spaces on either side of the table.  


“You seen anyone else lately?”  


Max looked confused as she shook her cup slightly to test how much liquid was left in it.  


“If I wasn’t going to see Dr. Rattick already, why would I see someone else?”  


“No, not like that,” Kate laughed. “Dana? Warren? Jules?”  


“Oh.”  


Max’s face fell slightly as Kate’s smile began to falter.  


“Not—uh—not really, no.”  


“Max…”  


“Been busy…”  


“Warren told me he would text you and then not hear back for at least an entire day.”  


“I said…”  


“Dana said you flaked on her birthday party.”  


“When was that?”  


“And Jules literally mailed you a letter because she was starting to think your phone was dead.”  


“That would explain why that showed up…”  


Kate finally sighed, running her hands over her face before also back through her nearly-shoulder-length hair, which also seemed to have been curled slightly.  


“Max, it’s been three years since—”  


She paused, swallowing as if something was suddenly blocking her throat, before continuing.  


“Since school, and all of these people are still reaching out to you. We’re still trying to talk to you.”  


“Maybe—”  


“Please don’t say you don’t want to talk to any of us. Just… please don’t, Max.”  


Her mouth hung open for a moment or two after, her words seemingly robbed from her.  


“We’re here, now.”  


“I know, and—”  


“I should feel glad that I’m special, apparently?”  


Max’s mouth finally closed as her jaw clenched, her hand curling more tightly around her cup.  


“Well, clearly you know everything I’m going to say, so—”  


“Max, please…”  


The brunette slid her chair back, beginning to rise to her feet when Kate suddenly grabbed her wrist, her grip much stronger than she had expected. When she looked back down at her, expecting to spout another splash of venom, the look on the blonde’s face made her stop cold. As she stared down into the brown eyes of the twenty-one-year-old Kate Marsh, Max swore she could feel rain on her skin and hear her voice, much more labored and hurt, ringing in her ears.  


The brunette slowly sat back down, but Kate still kept her grip on her wrist. Finally, Max placed her cup on the table and slowly reached toward her hand. Her fingers gently came to rest on top of Kate’s, but her grip remained firm.  


“I won’t let you just walk away.”  


Kate’s voice suddenly brought Max back to the present, the faint sensation of cold rain instantly disappearing.  


“I won’t let you just give up and drift off into the dark. I can’t, no matter how badly or how many times you try to get me to do it.”  


Max swallowed painfully as her eyes flicked to the nearby tables, but no one nearby seemed to be paying them any attention.  


“Got that?”  


Kate suddenly shook her wrist slightly, bringing her gaze back to the blonde. Max nodded slowly, her eyes still somewhat glazed over.  


“Say it.”  


Max’s mouth opened, but once again it felt incredibly dry. She swallowed forcefully before trying again.  


“Say what?”  


“That you’re still with me—still with us—and that you’re sticking around.”  


Max stared back at her for a moment or two before she blinked, bringing her eyes fully into focus.  


“I am. I-I will.”  


Kate breathed a sigh of relief, finally relaxing her grip on Max’s wrist, but before she could pull her hand away, it was taken in both of the brunette’s.  


“I’m sorry, Kate.”  


She stared back at her for a moment before she brought her other hand to rest on top of Max’s, as well, smiling.  


“Thank you, Max.”  


Their moment was interrupted by Kate’s cell phone ringing, which prompted her to sigh and roll her eyes. She released Max’s hands to dig through her purse for a moment until she pulled it free, glancing at the screen before rolling her eyes even more dramatically.  


“Vinnie’s Pizza, we’ve got it hot and fast.”  


Max raised her eyebrows at the other woman as she grinned, shooting Max a glance before sighing dramatically into her phone.  


“It’s me, Paul, what’s up?”  


She listened to whatever the other person, who Max presumed must have been her boss, had to say for several moments before pinching the bridge of her nose as she squeezed her eyes shut.  


“This sounds like a problem for Monday.”  


Max grinned at the firm, yet irritated, tone Kate had suddenly taken on within only a few sentences.  


“Yeah, well, I’m kind of busy right now.”  


Kate let her hand fall into her lap as she leaned her head back, keeping her eyes closed. Her head slowly began to shake from side to side as Max finished off the last of her latte.  


“Paul, no—yeah, I know but—Paul—Paul—listen—it’s—hey!”  


Max and several of the nearby patrons jumped at her sudden exclamation.  


“Calm down. Make a note of it and send an email to Jason; copy me on it as well. We’ll deal with it when we all meet up on Monday, okay?”  


After several more seconds of silence, she sighed.  


“Yeah, sounds like a plan. Yeah—uh huh—yeah—bye.”  


With that, she jabbed her phone screen aggressively with her thumb before dumping the whole thing unceremoniously on the table with a quiet clatter.  


“Work?”  


Kate sighed, rubbing her eyes with both hands.  


“No, midterm project for our class. This is supposed to be the last big project before we’re off for spring break, but of course it’s a group project and…”  


She let out a frustrated growl before letting her arms fall on the table dejectedly, shooting Max a frustrated look.  


“You remember how it is.”  


“I’ve tried to forget, actually.”  


Kate let out a short laugh before reaching for her drink.  


“Lucky you.”  


She tilted it back until it appeared she had drained the last dregs and placed it back on the table.  


“Do you…”  


“Like I told him, I am not worrying about it until Monday.”  


“That’s…”  


Max pulled out her phone and checked the date on the screen.  


“The day after tomorrow?”  


“Still not today.”  


Max smirked as Kate laughed and idly poked at her phone screen.  


“So…”  


“What are you up to the rest of today?”


	2. An Attempt in Good Faith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lied. It's not Wednesday.
> 
> I got bored, and I had this done already.
> 
> I've got more that I will probably keep posting either until it's done or until I run out of ideas/motivation, so if you like how this has started so far, then hopefully that's some good news.

Within minutes, the two women were leaning against the railing on the stern of the King County Water Taxi as it pulled away from the dock and began to cross the narrow gap of water to West Seattle. Max tried her best to keep the nausea from earlier from flaring up again at the rocking of the boat on the wind-swept water; it was particularly strong that day, causing her flannel to whip about her until she buttoned the lower half. As soon as they reached land again, she hurried to lead the way off the boat, disembarking several people ahead of Kate. Once she was on solid ground and her stomach had stopped churning so strongly, she glanced around for her friend only to feel something hit her on the back of her right shoulder. She whirled around to find the blonde rolling her eyes at her.  


“Guess I know not to count on you in the case of a boating accident.”  


“What?”  


“You ran from that boat like it was sinking.”  


“Just… uh… it was a bit rough out there, today.”  


“Didn’t bother me.”  


Max rolled her eyes as she began to follow Kate away from the ferry dock.  


“So… where did you want to go, again?”  


“It’s been ages since I went to Alki Beach.”  


“Alki?”  


Max made a face as Kate snickered.  


“What?”  


“That’s so far, though.”  


“No, it’s not.”  


“It kinda is…”  


Kate sighed, shaking her head.  


“Maybe the exercise and the fresh air will help to cure that hangover even more, huh?”  


Max’s eyes widened as she spluttered helplessly.  


“W-what do you mean?”  


“Come on, Max, it’s incredibly obvious. You show up late, which isn’t new, and you look like you barely managed to crawl out of bed before we met, and now a little boat ride has you ready to vomit?”  


The brunette grumbled as she folded her arms over her chest, looking away from the other woman.  


“I’m not mad at you,” Kate sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder, “just concerned.”  


“It was a Friday night.”  


Max felt Kate squeeze her shoulder slightly and she expected her to say more, but she simply sighed and began to gently push her in the direction of the sign that read “Alki Trail.”  


“Humor me, then, please?”  


Max sighed, letting her arms fall by her sides as she fell in step beside Kate.  


“Surprised you want to go for a walk all the way to a beach, dressed like that,” she remarked, glancing over at the blonde beside her.  


“What do you mean?”  


Kate glanced down at herself before looking over at Max.  


“Pencil skirts and button-ups aren’t usually walking material, are they?”  


The blonde scoffed at her indignantly, placing her hands on her hips before gesturing to her torso.  


“Does the plaid mean nothing?”  


They both began laughing as they continued along the trail. The conversation remained rather light as they made the thirty minute trek to the actual beach. As soon as they arrived, Kate began to march out onto the sand, but Max hesitated for a moment.  


“What’s the matter?”  


The brunette looked around at the sandy ground for a moment or two before beginning to open her mouth, but Kate cut her off.  


“If you’re thinking about quoting that line from Star Wars, let me just stop you right there.”  


Max looked indignant for a moment before grinning and beginning to follow the other woman farther out onto the actual beach, itself. The sand was held together by the dampness from rain the day before, but not enough that it didn’t also allow their feet to sink into it with each step. Kate led them up to the very edge of where the waves washed ashore before coming to a stop, glancing back to make sure Max was still with her.  


“You know, springtime in Seattle isn’t usually prime beach weather,” the brunette remarked, glancing around at the damp ground.  


“Maybe, but it also means that there aren’t tons of people here, either.”  


Max raised her eyebrows at her slightly.  


“Planning on murdering me or… something else?”  


Kate rolled her eyes and shoved her shoulder playfully.  


“Just not a fan of crowds, all the time, you know?”  


Just then, a voice called across the open ground and they both glanced around for the source of it. Finally, Max’s eyes fell on a figure approaching them from the small parking lot nearby, his hand raised high over his head and waving to them. Her shoulders sagged as her tongue pressed up against the inside of her clenched teeth.  


“You were saying about crowds…?”  


Kate glanced over and sighed, looking over at Max.  


“He texted me while we were on the way to the ferry and so I told him where we were going.”  


Max’s hands clenched into fists for a moment as she felt a familiar itching in the palm of her right hand.  


“Max, he’s your friend, too, you know?”  


“Maybe I—”  


“Please just hang out with both of us for a little bit?”  


She glanced over at Kate beside her and was instantly hit with the pleading look in her brown eyes. Immediately, she felt her resolve weaken and she sighed, relaxing her hands at her sides. Kate seemed to take it as a good sign and turned back to Warren, waving in response. A few moments later, he reached the two girls and came to a stop, looking as if he didn’t know what to do with his hands for a moment before Kate suddenly held her arms out for a hug and he stepped over to her.  


“How’s it going?” he asked, his familiar, somewhat dopey smile already lighting up his face.  


“Just taking in the sun and the waves, you know?”  


They both laughed before Warren glanced over at Max, his demeanor immediately faltering as he seemed conflicted on what to say.  


“H-hey Max…”  


Her lips pulled into a small smile as she flattened her palms against the sides of her jeans.  


“Hey, Warren.”  


“Good to see you. You look, uh…”  


“Like hell?”  


“N-no, no…”  


He quickly tried to backpedal as Max laughed, shaking her head.  


“I’m kidding. It’s been a while, huh?”  


He froze for a moment before letting out a sigh.  


“Yeah, it has.”  


After a moment or two longer, Max finally held out her arms, as well, and Warren tentatively stepped forward, almost moving to shake one of them when she rolled her eyes and stepped forward, pulling him into a tight hug that prompted him to make a slightly choked sound. A moment later, he seemed to recover and returned it, patting her on the back. Once they separated, she glanced over at Kate to see her regarding them with a soft smile.  


“Wasn’t expecting an attempt on my life out of nowhere,” Warren laughed, tugging at his shirt slightly to smooth it out, once again.  


“ _Not unless I die… and me._ ”  


A shiver ran down Max’s spine as she instinctually ran her hands up and down her arms. The other two didn’t seem to notice, however, so she quickly dropped her arms to her sides and tried to rejoin the conversation.  


They ambled along the sand just above the reach of the waves as they all caught up with the current events in each other’s lives. Warren had just started working as a bar-back near his apartment, but said that the tips were good, even though it was mostly college students who frequented it. Kate gave more information about her midterm project, and how her psychology classes were coming along, also talking about how she was in the beginning of talks to get an internship at a counseling center in Bellevue. The other two looked apprehensive when their stories were done and the conversation naturally led to Max, but she simply began explaining how she had lost her previous job at a screen printing store and had just talked to the manager of a liquor store down the street from her.  


“That sounds… fun?”  


“No, it doesn’t, Warren, you don’t have to try to make me feel better.”  


Max laughed, but he seemed somewhat apprehensive at her response.  


“It’s money, right?”  


“Yeah…”  


Max rolled her eyes, jamming her hands in her jeans’ pockets.  


“I’m fine with it, okay?”  


“Well, if you were thinking of something more interesting than a liquor store, I think the bar I started at is still hiring…”  


Max’s lips scrunched to one side as she looked up toward the sky for a moment before nodding slowly.  


“There’s a thought…”  


“You know about pouring drinks?”  


She glanced over at him and raised her eyebrows slightly as she felt Kate already cringing slightly.  


“Oh, do I…”  


Warren sensed the meaning behind her statement and winced slightly.  


“Sorry, I—”  


“You two are too sensitive about all this, man.”  


She laughed as the other two exchanged looks around her.  


“Max… we’re only concerned about your wellbeing…”  


“And it’s the same as it has been, you know that.”  


“And where has it been?”  


Kate shot Warren look to try to silence him, but Max turned toward him before he could backpedal.  


“A well of shit.”  


Silence fell over them for a long moment before he cleared his throat.  


“Like… a well just sitting there, or, like, a geyser blasting into the air?”  


They exchanged looks before they both began laughing. Kate looked confused by their responses, but remained silent.  


“Spraying everywhere. Drowning the local wildlife.”  


“Damn, a real natural disaster, huh?”  


Max’s body stiffened, once again, but she quickly tried to hide her reaction, even as the feeling of cold rain began to appear on her skin, once again.  


“Y-yeah, something like that…”  


The other two must have sensed her reaction as Warren quickly stopped laughing, rubbing at his chest subconsciously before clearing his throat and quickly trying to change the subject.  


“So, uh… seen any… good movies lately?”  


Max raised her eyebrows at him as Kate sighed, shaking her head.  


“Smooth transition.”  


He shrugged sheepishly as Max sighed, shaking her head.  


“Don’t get out much.”  


His lips drew into a thin line as he shoved his hands in his pockets.  


“Oh… I-I, uh, see…”  


She sighed again, rubbing her temple with one hand as she placed the other on her hip.  


“Listen, guys, I appreciate the ‘let’s all get together and sing Kum-bah-yah’ attempt, but I’m not sure this is really going to…”  


“Max, this isn’t an intervention.”  


“Really? ‘Cause it kind of feels like one. I should know.”  


The other two looked incredibly confused as she bit the inside of her cheek slightly.  


“Right, you don’t remember that…”  


“What was that?”  


“Nothing, just…”  


“Max, we’re just—”  


“Yeah, I know what you’re trying to do. I think it was a bad idea coming to the beach, Kate, sorry.”  


The blonde stared at her incredulously as Max sighed and raised her right hand. A moment later, she was standing on an empty beach, staring out at the waves that now crashed a good several feet away from her. With a sigh, she reached into her pocket and fished out her cell phone, the screen lighting up with a phone call a moment later.  


“Max, what happened?”  


Kate’s voice sounded somewhat frantic on the other end of the call.  


“Nothing, just… thanks for getting coffee, Kate.”  


“Max, you disappeared here, all of the sudden, so something—”  


“It’s fine, Kate, just… tell Warren we’ll hang some other time.”  


She could hear a muffled remark on the other end of the phone before the call suddenly went silent and she glanced at the screen. Even after pressing every button on the device, it wouldn’t come back to life, so she sighed.  


“Dead, of course.”  


The walk back to the ferry felt much longer by herself, but once she reached the pier she debated whether it was even a good idea. The image of an annoyed Kate Marsh waiting for her on the other side flashed before her, but the alternative was a much longer trip, only made harder if she couldn’t call a ride at all. The ride back across the Sound was no less nauseating than the first time, but she managed to hold the contents of her stomach down until she was back on solid ground, once again. She only managed to get to the end of the pier, however, before she gagged and quickly ran to a trash can, gripping the metal rim and leaning into it as she vomited. After several more retches, she stopped heaving and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.  


“Impressive.”  


She quickly spun around, fists clenched and tongue prepared to spout at whoever had spoken, but when she saw the source, she sighed, relaxing her stance and adopting a much more defeated one. Just as she had feared, Kate stood nearby, arms folded over her chest.  


“I told you…”  


“And I told you back at the coffee shop,” she snapped, stepping closer and putting a hand on Max’s shoulder, squeezing it with more strength than the brunette realized the other woman had, “I’m not going to let you just wander off.”  


“I’m not…”  


“Then what do you call that vanishing act earlier?”  


Max grit her teeth as she pushed at Kate’s arm, but her grip remained firm.  


“I don’t need—”  


“I’m just trying—”  


“Everyone is _just trying_ to help!”  


Max finally managed to shake the blonde’s grip and stagger a few feet away, her chest heaving as her flannel hung half off one shoulder.  


“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” the blonde spat, taking a few steps closer, but Max also moved farther away.  


“It’s a waste of everyone’s time, is what it is.”  


“It is if you don’t meet anyone halfway.”  


“Why? You think talking about shit is going to make you all stop showing up in my apartment every night, taunting me for not killing you?”  


“What?!”  


Kate stopped in her tracks, a look somewhere between disbelief and shock on her face.  


“Shit…”  


“Max…”  


By now, other people on the pier were looking over at her as she thought she saw one of them reaching for his phone.  


“Sorry.”  


She opened her right hand at her side, palm facing toward Kate, as everything around her suddenly seemed to shoot backwards at a breakneck speed. Within moments, she was on the pier, still, but Kate was gone, and a group of people she didn’t recognize was getting on the ferry behind her. A woman nearby jumped slightly as she suddenly seemed to notice the brunette, but she couldn’t exactly blame her for suddenly questioning her sanity. A quick check of her phone showed that the battery was still dead.  


“Sorry Kate…”  


Just like her walk back to the ferry, the bus ride back to her apartment felt much longer on the return trip, as her hands kept fidgeting with the loose threads from the tears in her jeans or the buttons on her flannel. Finally, when she reached her stop, she leapt from her seat and hurried off, barely breaking stride as her feet hit the sidewalk and carried her almost automatically into the front door of King’s Gold Liquor.  


The small chime above the door sounded as if it were barely functioning, but the employee behind the counter still noticed and glanced over. When he saw who had entered, he let out a quiet laugh before going back to the magazine he had been reading.  


“Shoulda known who’d show up right at open.”  


“I honestly didn’t even realize the time,” Max quipped, smirking as she suddenly paused at the end of the third aisle back and turned down it.  


Her eyes scanned over the labels on the shelves for a few moments before stopping at one in particular.  


“Arcadia Distillery.”  


She grabbed the bottle of the golden-brown liquid and glanced at the front of it. The lighthouse in the center of the label had a rather cartoon-y art style, but as she blinked, it was replaced by a photo-realistic one, the light at the top of it spinning slowly.  


“Now that’s a ghoulish touch.”  


Another blink later, and the bottle’s label changed entirely and her hands instinctively clenched even tighter around it. Her jaw was set as she stared down at the label clearly indicating “Abbott Distillery” for several moments before her eyes flicked to the shelf, noting that it also had changed, or perhaps, more accurately, reverted. Her jaw clenched for a moment before she turned and began to walk farther down the aisle, still holding the bottle.  


“I’ll show you…”  


She made her way down two other aisles, grabbing a bottle of rum and a bottle of cheap red wine before heading to the front counter. As she placed the three bottles on the counter, she swore she saw someone in the walk-in cooler to her left and glanced over. The fleeting image of someone’s heels and the back of a black jacket moved around one of the stacks of beer cases and she smirked slightly.  


“I thought I was the only one who showed up right at open.”  


“Don’t worry, you didn’t break your streak.”  


Confusion creased her face as she turned back to the cashier before glancing back toward the door to the walk in refrigerator.  


“I… didn’t?”  


“Fourth day in a row this week.”  


Max’s heart rate began to rise as her hands clenched into fists at her sides.  


“You…”  


“What’s that?”  


Max quickly snapped around to look at the cashier, clearing her throat.  


“Nothing, just contemplating what I’m going to do with my prize money when I win the perfect attendance award.”  


The cashier laughed, carefully placing her three bottles in a large paper bag before tapping a few buttons on his register.  


“Well, I’m sorry to say it doesn’t come with a cash prize, but perhaps another reward.”  


She raised her eyebrows slightly as she reached into her pocket for her wallet.  


“If you say anything about ‘favors’…”  


“I was thinking more along the lines of a job.”  


She paused, wallet in hand, before leaning into the counter slightly.  


“You serious?”  


“Of course. You’re already in here like clockwork, which is more than I can say for some of our current employees. So, you want it?”  


Max’s palms felt clammy as she slowly bit her lip for a moment before nodding.  


“Yeah.”  


“Cool. The other Max is already ten minutes late with no call, so I’m gonna make one to him and you can be the new Max starting tomorrow. Work for you?”  


She nodded and the cashier grinned.  


“It’s not a cash prize, but let’s call this a welcome package.”  


He slowly pushed the bag toward her, grinning as she raised her eyebrows, slowly beginning to lift her wallet.  


“Put that shit away, Caulfield. Like I said: welcome package.”  


She grinned, shoving her wallet back into her pocket before grabbing the bag and wrapping it securely in both arms.  


“Ten A.M. tomorrow?”  


“Since you don’t have keys or nothing yet, that works.”  


“See you then.”  


“I better, New Max.”  


She grinned and headed toward the door, turning so her back was toward it as she approached.  


“Well, at least the name will be easy for people to remember.”  


As she pushed the door open and rolled off it to face the sidewalk properly, her smile fell, her eyes instantly landing on a lanky figure leaning against the bus stop sign post directly ahead of her. The smirk on her face only made it worse. Max quickly turned away, walking toward her apartment as she saw the figure push off the post out of the corner of her eye.  


“Cold shoulder? I feel that.”  


“Nope, nope, nope, nope…”  


“What’s that? Secrets don’t make friends, you know.”  


Max ground her teeth as she fought with every fiber of her being that tried to make her turn to look.  


“Unless you’re trying to piss people off, in which case you’re doing a bang up job.”  


Finally, Max whirled around, coming to a skidding halt in the middle of the sidewalk. Chloe Price came to a stop, as well, folding her arms over her chest. The grin on her face was made somehow more menacing by the blood that ran over her lips, fed by the bullet wound in the center of her forehead.  


“Knew I’d get you to look eventually.”  


Max glared at the image for a moment or two before glancing around and resuming her trek to her apartment at a much quicker pace. The grinning girl with the bullet hole in her forehead that greeted her almost immediately inside the door to the staircase caused her to jump and nearly drop the bag in her arms, but she recovered quickly and pressed past her.  


“Boo.”  


Max’s teeth ground together as she made her way up the several flights to her floor and braced her bag between herself and the wall while she wriggled her keys free from her pocket. She noticed how the key shook in her hand as she reached for the lock, but she finally managed to hit the target and quickly threw open the deadbolt. As soon as she was inside the apartment, she pushed the door closed behind with a good amount of force and slammed the lock closed, once again.  


Her unwelcome visitor sighed as she stretched her legs out before her, leaning her head back on the recliner as she seemingly stared up at the ceiling.  


“You don’t want to talk in public, I get it.”  


Max growled, placing her bag on the small table just inside the door and stalking toward her bedroom.  


“Little too Sixth Sense, and all—”  


“Can it.”  


Chloe recoiled slightly, her grin widening to reveal more of her bloodied teeth before she laughed.  


“Bossy, I like it.”  


Max ignored her jab, stamping into her bedroom and instantly gagging at the smell that had only built up since earlier that morning. When she brought herself back under control, she took a deep breath in through her mouth and held it as she grabbed her backpack and quickly searched through the smaller pockets to remove everything that was of value before zipping the main compartment up and heading back into the main room.  


“Christ, Max, that’s grody.”  


She took the stairs in a hurry to the bottom before heading out the back door of the apartment building and swinging a right toward the dumpsters. The backpack emitted a soft squelching noise as it landed amidst the rest of the garbage and she gagged, holding one hand under her nostrils as she staggered back toward the door. Once the feeling had passed, she made her way back to her apartment and locked the door quickly, once again.  


“I mean, I’d expect that out of me…”  


She glared at the Chloe leaning against the countertop in her kitchen, the bullet hole on her forehead gone, but the stomach of her white tank top soaked red.  


“…but from you that’s a whole new level.”  


“Thought it was a trash can…”  


“I know.”  


She tapped her temple as Max growled, rubbing her eyes as she fell against the wall next to her door.  


“It’s too early for this shit…”  


The sound of crinkling paper from the bag came from her left and shivers ran down her spine.  


“Not too early for this shit, though.”  


She slowly pulled her hands away from her eyes to see Chloe looking down into the paper bag from the liquor store.  


“Damn, got the good shit, too.”  


Max suddenly shot from her place on the ground by her door, reaching Chloe a second later and reaching for the bleeding girl’s throat. To her surprise, she was actually able to touch her, and felt her fingers close around her neck. A moment later, the two of them slammed into her countertop, the blue-haired girl’s eyes widening for a moment before her face broke out into a grin.  


“Now that’s new.”  


“Do you know why I got the strong shit?”  


Chloe’s smirked remained, but she raised her eyebrows, as if waiting for an answer.  


“Because you always seem to need it.”  


With that, she released the image of the mortally wounded girl and ripped open the top part of the paper bag behind her, yanking the bourbon from “Abbott Distillery” from within and twisting the top off as fast as she could. The liquid burned and made her gag on the first swig, prompting her to stop and place it on the counter as she tried to hold down the bile with willpower alone.  


“Damn, dude, you know bourbon ain’t my thing.”  


She glared at the other girl for a moment before taking a deep breath and trying again. This pattern seemed to continue for a while until she finally made her way to her couch and fell onto it with a heavy sigh, kicking her shoes off and turning to lie across it. A moment later, she saw someone approach her from her right and glanced over. For a moment, her heart rate skyrocketed at the sight of Kate, as she had seen her at the coffee shop that morning, her hands on her hips, but she slowly began to laugh, shaking her head.  


“Maybe I do need to go back to Doctor… whatshisname.”  


“Maybe you need to charge your damn phone every once in a while.”  


She shot a dirty look at the image of Kate before rolling her eyes and placing the bottle on the ground next to the couch and rolling off of it and onto her feet. Once she found the charger on her bed, along with all of the other salvaged items from her backpack, she made her way back into the living room and plugged it in beside one end of the couch. Once the screen had lit up with the charging symbol and was slowly coming back to life, she glanced around for Kate, once again, but she was alone.  


“Of course.”  


Max glanced around the room for a moment before her eyes settled on the table near the door, specifically, the slim piece of grey metal on it. She sighed and forced herself to her feet, once again. As she reached the table, her fingers came to rest on her laptop, but she hesitated, instead turning to the kitchen beside her. Her feet slowly carried her into it, until she was standing in front of her refrigerator, her eyes immediately locking onto the old and worn photo clipped to a magnet on its front. After several moments of staring at it, the faint echoes of voices ringing in her ears, she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.  


When she reopened them, the wings of the butterfly were flapping slowly. One blink later, she was holding the Polaroid camera in her hands, the whirring sound of the photograph spitting from its front echoing around the dark corner of the bathroom. Her eyes slowly drifted down to the mostly-white, glossy square as she slowly reached up to pull it from the device. Almost instinctually, her gaze moved past it to the actual butterfly sitting on the lip of a plastic cleaning pail.  


“Hello old friend.”


	3. Graverobber

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story's rated mature for a reason... ;)
> 
> I don't think anything in this crosses into the "explicit" category, however feel free to make a case if you believe it does because I have a hard time judging what the line between the two ratings is.
> 
> Now with that introduction...

A moment later, the familiar sound of the door being kicked open rang through the bathroom, but she still jumped slightly at the sound. She slid the photograph into her messenger bag, no longer dirty and destroyed, along with the camera that she only saw in her nightmares. The wait for the sometimes soon-to-be-dead girl yelling about blackmail felt like an eternity before the familiar voice echoed about the tiled space.  


Max found herself mouthing the lines along with the other two people in the room as she played with the nails of her right hand, noting how badly they looked chewed. Finally, when the voices grew more frantic, she sighed approaching the large, glass-covered button with the words “FIRE ALARM” written in bright, white lettering above and below it. Once her cue had sounded, she brought her fist back and rammed it into the glass, gritting her teeth against the pain that instantly exploded in her knuckles and ran all the way up her arm. Instantly, the grating sound of the alarm sounding filled the room, causing her to wince, once again, as the nearest source of the sound was right next to her head.  


She looked down at her hand, blood already dripping onto the floor from the various cuts across her knuckles, but she simply held it with the opposite one as she grit her teeth.  


“You know it works, but fuck do I kind of wish it didn’t.”  


She heard the sound of the door swinging closed for the second time and looked around the corner of the stall. The floor between her and the door was not stained with a pool of blood, nor any bodies, so she sighed, beginning to step from cover as the edges of her vision began to grow orange and distort, like film burning away.  


Moments later, she blinked her eyes and was confronted with almost total darkness, but a faint rushing sound told her she was awake. The longer she kept her eyes open, the more details slowly became visible. The outline of a chair appeared before her, a pile of something stored in it, while the faint outline of a curtain letting in a thin sliver of pale light to her right told her enough to surmise where she was. The feeling of motion from behind her that shook the bed she laid on prompted her to breathe in slowly through her nose before exhaling through her mouth. Finally, she rolled her shoulder back to look over it, finding the other figure just rolling to face her direction, her face contorted in obvious distress.  


A moment later, the figure fell still and one eye slowly cracked open. She sighed and closed it, once again.  


“Didn’t mean to wake you up…”  


“Was already awake.”  


It was truer than she even realized, and it brought a slight smirk to Max’s features.  


“Can’t sleep, either?”  


“Something like that.”  


Chloe sighed as Max rolled over to face her, adjusting her position under the sheets slightly.  


“It’s still all so… crazy.”  


“Feels like yesterday.”  


Chloe laughed dryly.  


“Funny how two weeks can go by like that.”  


Max nodded slowly, somewhat unintentionally moving herself closer.  


“Although I may be somewhat scared by your sudden change in morals,” Chloe began, glancing down and rubbing the top of the sheets between her fingers, “I have to say I’m a fan of the actual bed.”  


“Well, I just thought… you needed it.”  


The other girl looked over at her with a smirk, releasing the sheets before sliding herself even closer, bringing her within range where Max could feel her body heat.  


“Hell yeah we did.”  


Max shifted herself even closer still, a smirk pulling at her lips, as well.  


“Only the finest.”  


“You still talking about the room…?”  


Chloe laughed as Max gave her wolfish smile before suddenly leaning in and planting a kiss on the other girl, forcing her laughter to come to an abrupt halt. A moment later, she pulled away as Chloe stared back at her in surprise for a moment before her face quickly twisted into a grin, as well.  


“That a challenge, hippie?”  


She leaned in until she was mere inches from the other girl’s face before inhaling slowly through her nose.  


“If you want to make it one.”  


She could feel Chloe shift her position on the bed slightly before she closed the gap, pressing her lips against the other girl’s. What started off innocuous enough quickly began to progress into something more as she managed to flip the taller girl onto her back, holding her in place with her knees on either side of her hips. She looked surprised for a moment before laughing.  


“Damn Max, where’d you learn those moves?”  


“Oh, seen ‘em somewhere…”  


With a smirk, she placed her hands on Chloe’s bare stomach, sliding them up slowly until she managed to push her arms above her head, pressing herself against the taller girl’s torso. Chloe’s eyes were wide as Max placed several slow kisses along her jaw, eventually curling up toward her eye, before curving back down to her lips. As she did, her hands slid underneath the other girl, bunching the back of her tank top in her hands before breaking the kiss to pull the garment up and over her head. When she pulled back into a kneeling position, Chloe let out a slow, shuddering sigh.  


“Goddamn…”  


“Let him.”  


Chloe smirked as Max held the tank top over the edge of the bed and dropped it on the floor. Before the other girl could say anything else, she quickly removed her own shirt and threw it aside. She felt cold hands on her stomach and shivered slightly, shooting Chloe a coy look.  


“Those are some real ice cubes.”  


Chloe just laughed, placing the backs of her hands on the small of Max’s back and causing her to arch forward, nearly collapsing on top of her to get away from the cold touch. Now that she was inches away from her, however, Max leaned forward so her lips were alongside Chloe’s ear.  


“You need to warm them up?”  


The older girl let out another shuddering sigh as Max grinned, pushing herself back so that she slid farther down the bed. As she did, she let her fingers drag over Choe’s torso, squeezing and rubbing at particular points along the way to quiet whimpers and squirming from her charge.  


“Jesus Christ, Max, it’s like…”  


She grinned, continuing her path lower until suddenly Chloe gripped her left wrist with a good amount of force, bringing her to a sudden stop.  


“What gives?” she snapped, lifting her head to look up at her face.  


“Max, it’s like you’ve done this before.”  


She continued to regard the other girl with a slightly annoyed expression, but Chloe kept her grip on her wrist.  


“Max… how many times have you done this?”  


“You worried I’m not—?”  


“I want to know why we’ve done this so many times and it’s only two weeks after everything back home.”  


Max let out a sigh that almost sounded more like a growl before angrily yanking her arm free of Choe’s grasp. She pushed herself back onto her knees as she brushed some of her hair out of her face, Chloe pulling herself into a sitting position as she did.  


“What are you thinking is the reason?”  


“I don’t know, Max, that’s why I asked. Shit just got seriously fucked up only two weeks ago, but for some reason you’re back here right now when _clearly_ you’ve been farther ahead of this moment.”  


“So what if I have?”  


“Max…”  


Chloe let out a growl, running her hands through her hair before bringing them down with a good amount of force on either side of her.  


“Tell me that shit doesn’t get more fucked up and you just keep coming back to this moment for a good time, or, like, to remember.”  


“And what’s so wrong with remembering?”  


“After everything we just went through?! I’m kind of a little afraid that I’m gonna wind up dead soon!”  


“What if, like…?”  


“No, not ‘what if,’ Max. Tell me. Now.”  


The brunette stared down at her with a scowl for a moment or two before letting out a huff and climbing off the bed.  


“Max!”  


She ignored the other girl, scouting around the area near the chair she had seen when she had “awoken” until she found her messenger bag.  


“Max!”  


She swiped the bag off the floor and turned around to see Chloe on her knees at the edge of the bed behind her.  


“What aren’t you telling me? _Why_ aren’t you telling me?”  


“It’s complicated.”  


“No shit, it’s time travel. Just lay it on me!”  


“I tried.”  


“I’m really not in the mood for jokes right now, Max.”  


“Well I’m not in the mood for whatever this shit is.”  


She twisted away from Chloe’s outstretched hand and stalked across the room. The sound of the other girl calling after her registered in her mind, but she wasn’t paying attention to the exact words. She reached the door to the bathroom and slammed her hand on the wall to the left until she found the light switch. As she flipped it on, she heard the sound of footsteps following her and hurried inside the room. As she threw the door closed behind her, she pushed her back against it, causing the door to slam just as the footsteps reached it. Her hand immediately shot to the door handle and jabbed the button to lock it with a metallic click.  


“Max! What the fuck?!”  


She heaved a heavy sigh, dropping the bag on the floor before running her hands over her face. A moment later, the door shook violently as Chloe hit it, prompting Max to hop away from it, spinning around to face the off-white wooden fixture.  


“What can’t you tell me?”  


“Not now, Chloe.”  


“Max, I know how this works, you’ve told me. Please don’t just disappear and leave me with the you who doesn’t know anything!”  


“I said not now!”  


Her throat actually hurt as the words tore themselves from her, but immediately the shouting and pounding from the other side of the door fell silent. She waited for several long moments, her chest heaving as her heart pounded in her ears, before a soft thump came from the other side and she heard the vague sound of Chloe’s voice, but couldn’t make out any words.  


After several long seconds of silence, Max slowly took a seat on the closed toilet lid, alternating between keeping her hands clasped between her knees and messing with her hair or rubbing at her face. Finally, she leaned forward and grabbed the messenger bag, drawing it closer and undoing the clasp to look inside. Everything was as she remembered it from her school days, including the one thing she was most interested in at that very moment. As she pulled the diary from inside the bag, a deep shiver ran down her spine, causing her to actually put the book down and rub at her arms for a moment. Finally, when the chill had passed, she grabbed the book and flipped open to the middle. She recognized the writing as being from the “week that never was” and began flipping farther until she noticed the dates were beyond October 11th, 2013.  


The very next page, she found a polaroid of her and Chloe in the cabin of the truck. The blue-haired girl was leaning on Max’s shoulder, her eyes closed, while Max, herself, looked like she hadn’t slept in days. The date on the entry was October 14th, three days later.  


“Truck broke down halfway between Seaside and Astoria. Finally got it fixed in some Podunk town by a mechanic who seemed to enjoy the sight of two young girls in his shop a little too much. At least we didn’t have to sleep there. Found a parking spot in Astoria and spent the night. Chloe slept, at least.”  


The next entry was, yet again, days later, but seemed to have more substance.  


“Made it back up to Seattle. Mom and Dad were freaking the fuck out. They let us stay for as long as we needed. Every day we were glued to the TV, watching news reports until they stopped reporting about the disaster, so we switched to reading internet articles. We kept waiting for texts or calls that never came. No Blackwell calls. No friends. No family. Chloe called Joyce’s phone probably eighty times. No answer, just voicemail instantly. We tried to tell ourselves it’s just because there’s no way to charge it, but I could tell she didn’t believe that lie any more than I did.”  


She read through the next few pages, glancing at the photos tucked between them as she did. The two of them in Seattle, by the waterfront. The two of them at a beach on a rainy day. The two of them on a trail in the woods. The two of them sitting at Max’s parents’ table in the middle of the night. Finally, between the last two pages with writing, she found a picture of the two of them on what seemed to be a “scenic overlook” off a highway, the ocean stretching out behind them as she could just make out some tall evergreens on the side.  


“We stopped in Seaside for the night. Less than an hour to Arcadia Bay tomorrow. I’m more than a little afraid of what we’ll find.”  


With a quiet sigh, Max closed the diary, pressing it to her forehead for a moment before dropping it back in the bag.  


“Same as usual.”  
Finally, she rose from her seat and cautiously approached the door. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she slowly twisted the handle, the lock opening with a metallic pop. She hesitated for a moment, waiting for Chloe to bash it open, but everything remained still and silent, so she pulled the door open. As she did, she saw the back of one of Chloe’s shoulders illuminated by the light from within the bathroom. It seemed she had taken a seat on the floor just beside the doorway. Her head was turned partially toward the open door, but as it opened wider, she had begun to actually turn to look over her shoulder.  


“Bet you’re a little confused why you were holed up in the bathroom and I’m out here, huh?”  


“Not exactly.”  


She stared up at Max for a moment in confusion before the implication seemed to set in.  


“You haven’t gone back yet.”  


With a sigh, Max finally stepped out of the bathroom and slowly took a seat against the wall opposite Chloe, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.  


“Chloe, like I said… it’s complicated.”  


The other girl stared at her in silence for several long moments before she finally spoke, her voice raspy and barely louder than a whisper.  


“You didn’t come back from anywhere. You restarted.”  


Max’s hands clenched tighter around her arms as she stared down at her knees, remaining silent.  


“You went back to the bathroom… so that means…”  


“I did come back in a way.”  


Finally, Max lifted her head to look at Chloe, an expression that had once been revelation quickly paling on her face.  


“Y-you came from another timeline… where I died…”  


Max remained silent for several long moments before giving a small nod, burying her head in her knees, once again.  


“Max…”  


Chloe’s voice was uncharacteristically quiet and timid, creating goosebumps on the brunette’s arms.  


“How many times have you watched me die?”  


Silence fell over the two of them for an uncomfortably long amount of time before Max finally sniveled and lifted her head, revealing her red and puffy eyes.  


“Too many.”  


All of the strength seemed to drain out of Chloe’s body as her legs straightened out, her shoulders sagging against the wall.  


“You did what I said… all those times… I-I thought…”  


She began to shake her head, pressing her hands against her temples.  


“Why do you keep changing your mind?”  


Max began to shake her head, unable to look at the other girl.  


“I don’t know…”  


“Max… what do we find in Arcadia Bay?”  


“What do you think, Chloe?”  


Her voice was suddenly much harsher than she had intended, although she still didn’t look up from her knees. Silence fell over them, once again, this time broken by the sounds of motion from Chloe’s side of the short hallway. Max finally looked up to see her getting to her feet and wandering into the main part of the motel room, pacing back and forth between the beds and the small TV while switching between running her hands through her hair or over her face, or rubbing her temples with her fingers. After roughly a minute of this, Max finally rose to her feet, as well, slowly approaching the older girl.  


When she drew within a foot or two of her, she reached out and pulled her into a tight embrace. Chloe fought for a moment, trying to pry her off, but Max held tight, refusing to let go. Once the struggling had stopped, she felt one of Chloe’s hands slowly run over her hair, almost like the motion of petting an animal.  


“So this is why you didn’t tell me.”  


Max slowly nodded, her cheek rubbing against Chloe’s shoulder somewhat uncomfortably, but she refused to pull away.  


“Can… can I ask you about… where you came from?”  


“Chloe…”  


“I want to know.”  


Finally, Max sighed and reluctantly released her grip on the taller girl.  


“Can it wait until morning?”  


“I’m sure as hell not sleeping after this, Max.”  


“Fine, fine…”  


Max fell onto the unused bed in the room with a sigh, shivering slightly as she wrapped her arms around herself.  


“You, uh… you want this back?”  


She glanced over at Chloe to see her grabbing her shirt off the floor and holding it up with a slight smile on her face. Max nodded and held out a hand toward her, so Chloe tossed it her direction. Almost immediately, it seemed to lessen the chill that had fallen over her and she let out a sigh.  


“Where—?”  


“Did it work?”  


“Did what work?”  


“Did letting me die stop the storm?”  


Max hesitated for a moment before nodding.  


“So I was right…”  


“Please don’t say it like that…”  


“But, Max, I was!”  


Chloe fell onto the other bed, quickly pulling her legs onto it and crossing them before her.  


“Whatever.”  


“So… what happened then? Did you rat out Jefferson and Prescott?”  


“I… kind of.”  


“What? What do you mean by ‘kind of?’”  


“The cops picked up Nathan on… murder…”  


She had to swallow the strange lump in her throat before her voice would allow her to continue.  


“And I anonymously tipped them off to the barn. Nathan wouldn’t confess to his association with Jefferson, and he was almost too good about not leaving fingerprints, but they finally got him on a handwriting match with a note left in the bunker.”  


“Wouldn’t confess? That doesn’t seem right.”  


“Yeah, we all were pretty sure it was more along the lines of the cops ‘lost’ his confession after some money was thrown their way.”  


“Of course…”  


“So they implicated Jefferson with a bunch of the disappearances, held a kangaroo court, and booked him on the abduction and involuntary manslaughter of Rachel and… others…”  


Chloe’s body language immediately grew tense as Max noticed her hands repeatedly forming fists before attempting to relax.  


“That’s it? Abduction and _manslaughter_?”  


“They couldn’t prove that it was intentional.”  


“For fuck’s sake!”  


Chloe threw her hands into the air before falling onto her back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.  


“So what kind of sentence did that get him?”  


“Eight years prison and some large fine.”  


Chloe grumbled something unintelligible before finally dragging herself back into a seated position.  


“So besides that… what—uh—what’s life like… for you?”  


Max’s throat grew tight as she stared down at the pattern on the comforter, tracing her finger in a figure-eight pattern over it.  


“It’s, uh… well…”  


“I guess I should be able to guess… seeing as you keep dragging me up enough to become the professional in bed you are.”  


“You know what? I knew this was a bad idea.”  


Max began to get to her feet, but Chloe was faster, stopping her before she could take a step toward the door and holding her in place by her upper arms.  


“Max, Max, Max, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”  


“Are you? Cuz it doesn’t fucking seem like it.”  


“I—it’s just—”  


“Do you know the reason I’ve come back to basically this exact moment so many times?”  


Chloe fell silent, staring down at Max as the brunette’s chest heaved with each breath.  


“Because it’s one of the few things that usually lets me feel not like a fucking empty shell for… a few hours… a day or two… _something_ … but every time it’s over, and I realize that I made a mistake—again—I have to sit there and let that rich fuck put a bullet in you and fully know that you’re bleeding out ten feet away and I can’t do a fucking thing about it!”  


By the end of her speech, Max was practically screaming, her face hot and her voice cracking. Surprisingly, no one banged on the walls or the door, but she eyed the opening in the curtain for signs of flashing lights, just in case.  


“Okay… okay…”  


Chloe slowly ran her hands up and down Max’s arms, clearly trying to soothe her, but the brunette twisted away, moving closer to the door, but stopping before even reaching the bathroom.  


“So yeah, I’ve had that debate with myself a lot, already. Is this wrong? Am I basically just digging you up from your grave just to throw your corpse back in it?”  


Chloe visibly squirmed at this image, but otherwise remained silent.  


“Do you know that, in the other timeline, I see all of the people I know from back home, as I remember from that week, mocking me?”  


“For what?”  


“For not killing them and letting you die.”  


“That’s…”  


“Fucked up? Yeah. Then, when I’m here, if I manage to stick it out long enough to go back, do you know what I see in Arcadia Bay?”  


“Max, no…”  


“The exact opposite. ‘Why did you let us die, Max?’ ‘What’s so important about one girl over everyone?’”  


“Max, please stop…”  


“I can’t fucking win! The worst is when you show up…”  


“Max!”  


“Mocking me for… I don’t even know what! You show up on the street to… what, guilt trip me?”  


“Max, stop!”  


“It just keeps going in circles and—”  


“Max, enough!”  


Chloe suddenly appeared before her, gripping Max’s upper arms tightly for a moment before slowly sliding them up to cup her face in her hands.  


“Please… stop…”  


There was just enough light from the open bathroom door that Max could make out the wet trails leading from the taller girl’s eyes.  


“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. I’m so sorry…”  


A moment later, Chloe pulled her into a secure embrace, squeezing Max so tightly that she struggled to breathe for a moment before she shifted her position and managed to relieve the pressure.  


“I shouldn’t have said that… I was… being too much of a goddamn edgelord.”  


Max laughed softly, slowly wrapping her arms around Chloe, as well.  


“Like 4chan in a person.”  


Chloe actually laughed, and despite it being mixed with the sound of her crying, Max found herself smiling, as well. They remained like that for several minutes before they finally began to release the embrace. As they did, Chloe’s hands moved to cup Max’s face, once again, but this time she planted a soft kiss on her forehead.  


“Could you… stay the rest of the night… at least?”  


“I mean, your truck isn’t that comfortable…”  


“You know what I meant.”  


Max swallowed painfully before nodding.  


“Okay.”


	4. Hometown Hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up. It's a long one.

The rest of the night passed in total silence, although Max’s eyes only seemed able to stay closed for a few minutes at a time. There were much longer stretches of time where she remained staring into the darkness of the room, not wanting to move for fear of disturbing the arm draped over her for most of it. Every so often, her gaze fell on the messenger bag that she had placed back on the chair beside the bed. Her vision seemed able to pierce through the fabric and let her see the front cover of the journal, although really it was one particular picture hidden within it that drew her attention. For a moment, she could have sworn she saw a flutter of blue out of the corner of her eye and her head whipped to one side, only to find Chloe recoiling slightly from the motion before placing her chin on Max’s arm, once again.  


“Can’t sleep?”  


Max slowly shook her head, sighing.  


“Me neither.”  


The brunette moved her hand so that she took the taller girl’s within it, holding it to her chest and squeezing slightly.  


“We spent the last couple of weeks pretty much sleeping in the same bed, but… it almost feels like the first time, again.”  


“Kind of is, kind of isn’t.”  


“Okay, Sage Max.”  


They both laughed softly before Max released her grip and began to roll onto her back. Chloe propped herself up on one elbow beside her as she finished readjusting her position and sighed.  


“So… how long has it been since you were ‘back here?’”  


Max’s lips drew into a thin line and Chloe rolled her eyes.  


“Dude, we’ve way blown past this barrier tonight.”  


“I’ve just never really thought about it that way.”  


“So…?”  


“Probably… a month?”  


“Damn, guess I’m not _that_ special…”  


Max shoved her as she rolled her eyes, but it was almost enough to knock the other girl off the bed.  


“Whoa there, I was only kidding…”  


“Sorry…”  


“Come to think of it, it almost seems like you’re more used to throwing your weight around. That something you’ve been working on?”  


Chloe’s coy look caused Max to snort slightly as she rubbed her eyes tiredly.  


“I didn’t start taking krav maga, if that’s what you’re wondering.”  


Her expression lost some of the playfulness, but her curiosity only seemed heightened.  


“You, uh—”  


“Get in a few bar brawls? Maybe.”  


“Wait, what?!”  


Max smirked slightly as Chloe pushed herself up with both bands, mouth hanging open slightly.  


“You—Max ‘hipster chickenshit’ Caulfield—get in _fights_?”  


“You know, them’s fightin’ words, Chloe…”  


“I’m sorry, but…”  


She shook her head, laughing.  


“No way.”  


“Seattle can be a rough place… if you’re in the wrong place.”  


Max shrugged, falling silent as the other girl shook her head.  


“Jesus, it’s like I barely even know you…”  


“Three years will do that to a person, you know.”  


The other girl paused for a moment, her lips moving wordlessly before her gaze refocused on the brunette.  


“You… where you came from… it’s three years in the future?”  


Max frowned slightly.  


“I didn’t say that already?”  


Chloe slowly shook her head.  


“Oh…”  


“So… that makes… that makes you twenty-one… in an eighteen year old’s body…”  


“When you say it like that it makes _my_ head hurt,” Max groaned, rubbing her eyes slowly. “Technically I’d probably be over twenty-one if we’re really trying to add everything up.”  


“Right…”  


As she looked over at the older girl, she found her with a glazed-over expression as her fingers absentmindedly played with a small piece of thread that had come loose from one of the seams in the comforter.  


“I’m sorry.”  


That finally seemed to snap Chloe out of her daze, prompting her to blink rapidly before looking over at her.  


“For what?”  


“For bringing all this shit up.”  


Max went to raise her right hand, but Chloe’s suddenly shot out and grabbed it, pinning Max’s arm to her stomach.  


“Don’t you dare rewind, Max.”  


She was taken aback by the sudden motion and intensity of her voice, leaving her only able to stare back at the other girl with widened eyes.  


“I’m already behind when it comes to conversations with you, right now. Please don’t put me even further at a disadvantage.”  


The faintest hint of a tremble in her tone caused Max to swallow painfully against the lump that had formed in her throat. Chloe’s face already looked somewhat pale due to the color of the light coming from the crack in the curtains, but she could have sworn it was even more so than it should have been, at that moment. Max slowly nodded and she went to pull her hand back, but the other girl kept hold of it as she pulled herself alongside her and laid on her side, eventually reaching up to hold it with her other hand, as well.  


“You may not be the ‘Max’ that I’ve known so far, exactly, but I still have so many questions and… if you keep coming back here for me, that has to at least mean something, right?”  


The brunette suddenly found that she couldn’t look Chloe in the eyes, so she closed hers tightly just before hot tears began to form in their inner corners. The bed shook slightly as the gap between the two girls closed and she felt the grip on her hand disappear, only for two arms to wrap around her in a tight embrace, pulling her tightly against the taller, warmer body in front of her.  


When she opened her eyes, she could feel the stiff, sandy sensation in the corners of them, but she also noticed how the light that made it past the curtains was much brighter and warmer in color. She blinked several more times, but the scene didn’t change again. With a quiet groan, she went to reach up to wipe at her eyes, but found her right arm pinned against her side. Panic shot through her for a moment before she looked down to find another arm wrapped around her, still. A small smile pulled at the corners of her lips as she turned her head even further to try to see over her shoulder, but she could only make out the vague shape of another person behind her.  


The motion was enough, apparently, to rouse her sleeping partner as Chloe began to stir, muttering something under her breath as she did. A moment later, her incoherent words turned into a drawn out groan as she rotated her right shoulder.  


“Seriously don’t understand how people say that’s comfortable.”  


Max laughed softly as Chloe finally removed her arm from over her, pressing her opposite hand against her shoulder as she moved it slowly and stiffly.  


“Am I going to have to take it off?”  


“I am left-handed…”  


Max simply rolled her eyes before reaching up to finally wipe away the sleep from them.  


“Did we seriously get into a wrestling match, or did I dream that?”  


She looked back over at the blue-haired girl with raised eyebrows.  


“What do you think?”  


“I think maybe you move in your sleep too much.”  


Max rolled her eyes as Chloe grinned, rubbing the corner of one of her eyes against the smaller girl’s shoulder.  


“As much as either of us would like to stay here longer, check out’s coming up soon, so we gotta get up and at’em.”  


Max’s face fell slightly as Chloe began to sit up, but she clearly caught the change in her demeanor and paused for a moment.  


“Max?”  


“Y-yeah, I… yeah, I agree.”  


Chloe frowned, lying back down next to her and reaching one hand up to run through her hair slowly.  


“I’m assuming it has to do with where we’re going?”  


Max nodded and she sighed.  


“I… I’m not thrilled about it either, but…”  


“So let’s not.”  


“Max…”  


“What are we looking to get out of this if neither of us actually wants to go through with it?”  


“Closure?”  


Max let out a sigh that was almost more of a growl as she buried her face in the pillow before her.  


“Max… how many times have you had this conversation?”  


Her response was too muffled by the pillow at first, so she turned her head to the side, once again, clearing her throat.  


“Too many.”  


“And how many times have you been able to convince me?”  


“What are you getting at?”  


“I’ve made my mind up… and you had, too. Well—you know—the you before last night.”  


“Oh yeah, _her_ …”  


“Dude, you think we didn’t have this same argument before we left Seattle, too?”  


“I know we have, Chloe!”  


She stared at her with an unreadable expression for a moment or two before furrowing her brow slightly.  


“Are—are you—?”  


“Still the same Max you were just talking to, Chloe.”  


With a sigh, Max pushed herself onto her hands and knees and began to climb off the bed when she heard Chloe getting to her feet, as well.  


“I’ve had this conversation enough to know how you told me about the other ones.”  


When she looked over at the other girl, she found her fidgeting uncomfortably with the hem of her tank top, not making eye contact with her.  


“Right, yeah… that… that makes sense.”  


After several moments of tense silence, Chloe broke it with a heavy sigh as her hands moved from nervously playing with her clothing to braced on her hips.  


“Why do you keep coming back to this moment, Max, if you know this is going to happen all the time?”  


“I don’t get to choose where I appear, Chloe,” she began, placing her hands on her hips, as well, “or when, rather. Isn’t it obvious, anyway?”  


The taller girl raised her eyebrows slightly but otherwise remained silent as Max let out a frustrated sigh.  


“Because of you. Regardless of what I know is about to happen immediately afterward. This time… well, things didn’t go like they have before.”  


“How do they usually go?”  


“Just… not like this!”  


Max threw her hands in the air before beginning to pace about the space next to the bed.  


“Max, I need to know—”  


“I know the answer you’re looking for, already, remember?”  


Chloe fell silent at Max’s outburst as the brunette slowed to a stop, tilting her head back and closing her eyes.  


“Do you want me to tell you?”  


A long pause followed before she finally opened her eyes and looked over at the other girl. Chloe’s face had gone sheet white, all traces of her fidgeting and restlessness from moments ago gone.  


“Chloe?”  


“No. Max, I… I don’t want you to tell me. I need to see for myself.”  


After several more long moments of tense silence, Max sighed and turned to the duffel bag on the floor beside her. She removed a change of clothes from it and went to move toward the bathroom, but hesitated when she passed Chloe.  


“I’ll go.”  


The taller girl blinked quickly, seemingly snapping out of her reverie as she looked over at Max.  


“Even though I know what we’ll see… I’ll go.”  


A small smile pulled at her lips before she stepped forward and wrapped Max in a gentle embrace. They remained there for several seconds before she finally let her continue on her way to the bathroom.  


“You knew I’d do it, anyway.”  


Chloe flashed a devilish smirk as Max couldn’t help but laugh.  


“I am a good bad influence, you know.”

 

\---------------------------------------------

 

The suspension in the old truck insured that both girls felt every little bump in the road as they made their way along the coast, the autumn sun already rather high in the sky by the time they truly set off around 10 A.M. As they moved farther south, and Max began to recognize more of the scenery, the heavy feeling in her stomach only grew stronger. When she saw the first road sign listing the mileage to Arcadia Bay, she found herself unintentionally rubbing her arms, wringing her hands, playing with her hair, and generally unable to sit still. Chloe must have noticed, because she had reached over and took hold of one of her hands, squeezing it firmly in hers for the past ten miles or so.  


As they came to the bottom of a hill, they spotted the first orange work sign indicating that the road was closed ahead. Max made an audible sound somewhere between a sigh and a whimper, which she quickly tried to cover up by turning her head to the side, staring directly out of the passenger window. The squeeze on her left hand told her that this also hadn’t gone unnoticed, but the gesture only seemed to make her restlessness worse.  


Halfway up the hill, they passed a sign indicating a detour along a smaller, back country road, but they ignored this, instead heading straight ahead. The crest of the hill was in sight, and Max found herself reflexively opening and closing her right hand, before finally squeezing it tightly into a fist. As the truck reached the top, it quickly slowed to a crawl, before finally coming to a stop in the middle of the road.  


Max kept her gaze focused on the glovebox and the dashboard ahead of her for several long moments until Chloe released her hand and she finally forced herself to look up. Several construction barricades with the “Road Closed” signs on them were set up about halfway down the hill from them, but her eyes immediately moved past them to an all-too familiar sight.  


“Fuck, Max…”  


She sighed heavily, closing her eyes for a moment or two before looking over at Chloe to see her leaning forward, her arms folded on the steering wheel before her.  


“We drove through it the morning after, but… there’s somehow less, now.”  


Max nodded slowly, rubbing her eyes tiredly.  


“They had to tear a lot down because it as just easier and cheaper than trying to fix it.”  


Chloe glanced over at her with a curious expression for a moment before realization seemed to dawn on her and she nodded slowly.  


“That, uh, that makes sense.”  


“Someone will probably tell us the same thing.”  


Chloe looked at her with an odd expression as Max shrugged before wrapping her arms around herself in a tight hug and lifting her feet to brace them against the dashboard ahead of her.  


“Want to get this over with?”  


She glanced over at Chloe, a pang of sadness shooting through her chest despite having heard something like this same conversation numerous times.  


“I mean… we’re right here…”  


“Yeah… yeah…”  


With that, the truck slowly began to roll forward, heading down the winding road into the land that had formerly been Arcadia Bay. The truck bounced, creaked, and protested as they maneuvered around the road signs, driving through the ditch on the side for a moment before returning to the much smoother pavement. The rest of the drive seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye, with the vehicle coming to a stop almost before Max had taken in how the husks of former businesses had risen around them. The street ahead had been largely cleared of debris, but piles had formed in front of the various buildings, most likely accumulated by the rescue teams.  


“Do you remember where—?”  


“I know how to get to the diner, still.”  


Max nodded slowly, her lips drawing into a thin line as she noticed how Chloe’s knuckles had turned white on the steering wheel. The truck crawled forward, once again, passing by both empty husks and empty lots before she finally pulled into a large stretch of asphalt on the right that had a suspiciously large rectangle of dirt in the center of it. No other vehicles or people were nearby, so Chloe killed the engine, but remained seated. Max slowly unwrapped her arms and removed her feet from the dashboard, glancing over at the other girl for a few moments before gently shaking her shoulder.  


“Come on.”  


The first thing that became apparent upon stepping out of the truck was how quiet the entire scene was. Waves, wind, and occasional shore birds still filled the background, but the familiar hum of cars and voices from the sidewalks nearby was gone, leaving a disarmingly large hole in the world. A shiver ran down Max’s spine as she closed the door behind her before folding her arms over her chest, partially against the chilly breeze blowing into her from off the bay and partially because she didn’t know what to do with her hands, otherwise.  


As she moved around the front of the truck, Chloe was just closing her door behind her. Her movements seemed to be in slow motion, almost as if she were somehow underwater. When Max reached her, she shook her head, clearing her throat and looking down at the shorter girl.  


“Like I said, let’s get this over with? Nothing new for you, right?”  


Max’s lips pulled into a thin line and Chloe winced.  


“Sorry.”  


“Well, I mean, you’re right.”  


They both nodded slowly before Max jerked her head to the right in the vague direction of the main street they had just turned off of to park.  


“You know the way.”  


As they crossed the open parking lot and stepped onto the sidewalk, Chloe’s body language grew noticeably stiffer. Almost immediately, their eyes were drawn to the dilapidated metal husk sitting across the empty main street from them. The sign on the top still only had three of its letters in place: “DIE.” As Max looked it over, once again, she squirmed, squeezing her arms tightly for a moment before releasing them.  


“It’s still standing.”  


She looked over at Chloe to see her staring in the vague direction of the diner, but her eyes were glazed over.  


“Yeah, somehow.”  


“Who’d have thought a diner would have a foundation like that, huh?”  


They exchanged brief, quiet laughter before falling into silence, once again.  


“Is… is there…?”  


“There’s no one inside, now, Chloe.”  


“Right…”  


“Rescue teams have already been through a lot of this area.”  


Max gestured to the piles of debris in front of the various buildings.  


“They took out everything in their way of looking for people, and otherwise removed the cars and other shit that was left in the middle of the road.”  


“So… no, don’t tell me right now.”  


Max sighed heavily, kicking at a small rock next to her foot.  


“Where do you want to go next?”  


Before Chloe could answer, the sound of a vehicle horn blowing from nearby caused both girls to jump, Max letting out an audible yelp, as well. They spun to the right to find a pickup with an orange and neon-green paint job with flashing yellow lights approaching them, the driver’s window already rolled down.  


“What are you two doing here?”  


They exchanged glances before Chloe cleared her throat and responded first.  


“We used to live here.”  


The truck came to a stop in front of them, the driver leaning out the window slightly and looking between the two girls.  


“Are you two survivors?”  


“I… I guess… technically?”  


“Technically?”  


“We were on the edge of town when the—storm—hit, and so we managed to get away. We came back looking for…”  


Chloe seemed unable to finish her sentence, her tone growing raspy and constricted before she finally trailed off, swallowing painfully.  


“We were looking for people we knew.”  


The man in the truck sighed heavily, nodding slowly.  


“Listen, a lot of the buildings around here are pretty badly damaged. We’ve been through a lot of them at this point. We took all survivors we could find to a camp set up on the high school football field. If you’re looking for someone, look there. Otherwise, stay out of the buildings. You never know when one might collapse.”  


“Thanks.”  


The truck began to turn around in the street to head back in the direction it had come from as Max turned to Chloe, placing one hand on her arm.  


“C’mon.”  


The taller girl nodded slowly and began to move back to the truck, as well, but seemingly being led along by Max’s grip on her arm. When they reached the vehicle, they climbed inside and she quickly started it, exiting the parking lot without even bothering to put on her seat belt. After five minutes or so of driving, Max realized that they weren’t heading toward the school, but were actually heading in the opposite direction. She opened her mouth to ask where they were going when she caught sight of the street sign as the truck took a hard right, and she slowly closed it. A few seconds later, the truck came to a screeching halt, and Chloe shoved it into park, but left the engine running.  


Max slowly looked past her to the house on the other side of the street. While the remaining siding showed a two-tone paint job that started white at the bottom and turned blue halfway up, a great deal of them had been ripped off, revealing the bare materials of the walls beneath. Like many of the buildings they had seen thus far, no windows remained, only dark, gaping chasms that revealed little of what lay beyond them.  


“Chloe…”  


“Fuck what that guy said. I’m going inside.”  


Before Max could say anything else, the engine came to a halt and Chloe hopped out her door, slamming it shut behind her and striding purposefully toward the front door to her house. Max hurried to follow her, only catching up as Chloe was throwing the front door open.  


“Chloe, careful!”  


Despite her warning, the house didn’t immediately collapse inward on itself, but she still grabbed the other girl’s arm and yanked on it forcefully, bringing her to a halt.  


“What, Max?!”  


“Be. Careful.”  


They glared at each other for a long moment before Chloe finally sighed, her expression softening somewhat.  


“You… uh… I take it you have experience with this place?”  


“Yes. So take my advice. Okay?”  


Chloe nodded and Max finally released her death grip on her arm. As the taller girl turned to head into the house, she paused for a moment before turning back to Max.  


“Do you… maybe want to take the lead? Seeing as you know what not to do and where not to step and all that?”  


Max rolled her eyes.  


“Chloe Price, suddenly afraid to be the fearless leader?”  


“Dude, I mean, I was just trying to be all—logical—and shit…”  


Max sighed and gestured into the main hallway.  


“We should be fine as long as you don’t stomp around and be careful what you lean weight on.”  


“Gee, that doesn’t sound terrifying at all.”  


“I also don’t know what you’re looking for, so I don’t know how leading will help anyone.”  


“You… don’t?”  


“Chloe, as much as this may be somewhat of a repeat for me, this isn’t for you. I don’t want to just lead you along some pre-determined track based on what I’ve seen or done before.”  


“With another me.”  


“With several other yous.”  


“Christ, that’s trippy.”  


“Tell me about it.”  


Chloe sighed, turning back to the hallway inside and carefully stepping through the doorway, glancing around the immediate entrance for a moment before slowly beginning to move farther back into the house. As Max stepped through the doorway after her, she shivered, glancing around, as well. The front door, itself, hung precariously off of one of its hinges, while shards of broken glass from the small window in the top of it lay about the filthy carpet just beyond it. As they moved past the kitchen and into the dining room and living room area, it was apparent that not much had gone missing, however a great deal of the items that had been in the room were displaced. Once the windows and the sliding door had been blown out, the strong winds had evidently had their way inside the house. Everything also appeared to have a layer of dirt and grime on it, while Max also took note of a newspaper that had almost entirely disintegrated from water damage on the carpet near the dining table.  


She carefully made her way over to the remains of the paper and crouched down over it. Most of it was rendered illegible by the damage, but she could just make out the name of the press, along with the date in the upper lefthand corner.  


“Of course,” she grumbled as she rose to her feet.  


“What’s that?”  


“Old newspaper.”  


“Grody.”  


She rolled her eyes but grinned as she turned around to find Chloe standing in the middle of the living room area, looking around at the damaged furniture.  


“You know, I always did tell Mom that couch was kinda ugly, but mold green isn’t a good alternative.”  


Max frowned slightly as she carefully approached the back of the piece of furniture, finally noticing the fuzzy growth that covered most of it. Despite her quip a moment ago, Max could see that Chloe was clenching her jaw against whatever emotional outburst she was trying to hold in. Finally, after several long moments of silence, her gaze fell on the far wall and she let out a short, dry laugh.  


“Well, I bet David’s precious TV is ruined, now.”  


“Yeah…”  


Suddenly, her entire body grew tense and Max tried to lean around her to see what had caused the change in demeanor. Before she could, however, Chloe muttered something under her breath and began walking quickly toward the front door, once again.  


“What did I say about being careful!”  


The other girl ignored her, however, and as she began to take the turn onto the stairs, Max’s eyes widened and she went to hurry after her.  


“Chloe, wait!”  


She still didn’t respond, so Max quickly raised her right hand. A moment later, Chloe was behind her, just beginning to exit the living room, while Max came to a stop in front of the stairs, throwing her arms out to block the entrance.  


“Max, what the fuck? Let me up there.”  


“Chloe, what did I say before we came in here?”  


She tried to brush past the shorter girl, but she placed her hands in the center of her chest and shoved her backward with a good amount of force. Chloe stumbled backward into the wall beside the front door, eyes widening slightly before narrowing considerably as she moved so she was looming over the brunette.  


“Max, move.”  


“It’s not safe up there, Chloe.”  


“I need to find something.”  


“It’s not worth it.”  


“What isn’t? Do you know what I’m looking for already?”  


“It doesn’t matter what it is. Sometimes it’s been one thing, others another. I’m telling you: it’s. Not. Worth it.”  


“What are you hiding from me?”  


“I’m not hiding any—”  


“Then what’s your fucking problem?”  


“Trying to keep you from dying after I let the town get destroyed, anyway!”  


Chloe stopped trying to get past her as all of the sound in the house seemed to disappear at once. Finally, after a few moments, her own heavy breathing reached Max’s ears and she felt her shoulders begin to sag.  


“Like I said… it’s not worth it.”  


Chloe’s expression finally cracked, the anger melting away as she bowed her head slowly, unable to look the shorter girl in the eyes.  


“I-I’m sorry…”  


“I get—”  


Max sucked in a breath through her nose before starting over, rubbing her right temple tiredly.  


“I understand this is a lot for you, but please just believe me about some of these things… okay?”  


The blue-haired girl nodded and Max sighed, once again, switching from rubbing at her face to running her hand through her hair.  


“What were you looking for, anyway?”  


Chloe kicked at the ground between them for a moment before she cleared her throat.  


“The—uh—the picture of my mom, dad, and me… the one that used to be in the living room.”  


“Oh…”  


She nodded, rubbing at the back of her neck with one hand before shrugging, although the action seemed anything but casual.  


“It’s fine. It’s just a picture. Not worth dying over.”  


Max bit her bottom lip for a few moments, eyes staring sightlessly at the wall to the left of Chloe before she let out a heavy sigh.  


“This is what I get for going through with it…”  


“What?”  


“Hold on.”  


Chloe looked confused before Max suddenly turned and began to make her way up the stairs.  


“Whoa, whoa, wait!”  


The taller girl tried to grab her by the back of her jacket, but Max managed to hop one step out of reach just before she could.  


“What are you doing?!”  


“I have a bit of an advantage, Chloe.”  


“You just said—!”  


“I know, but… just wait down there, yeah?”  


Chloe’s foot was braced on the bottom step as she clearly fought with whether to obey or follow her to the second floor, but finally she sighed and stepped away, folding her arms over her chest.  


“Be careful.”  


“When am I anything else?”  


Chloe rolled her eyes as Max grinned and turned to take the next step, but her foot immediately crashed through the wooden surface. She let out a shriek as she desperately reached for the railing, but it also cracked and gave way. Her arms raised before her just in time as her knee slammed into the lip of the next step and a cry of pain burst from her.  


“Max!”  


She swore loudly and braced herself against the wall before carefully pulling her leg free. Her jeans caught on the wooden splinters several times, but she managed to free them before they tore. Finally, when her leg was no longer stuck in the staircase, she sighed.  


“Dude, come on, it’s okay, I don’t need you to do this.”  


“Where is it?”  


“What?”  


“Where is the photo?”  


Chloe stared at her incredulously for several moments before shaking her head.  


“My mom’s room. Probably in her dresser.”  


“Which one?”  


“The one that’s a dresser and not a closet?”  


Max rolled her eyes but turned back to the stairs ahead of her.  


“New plan…”  


She took a deep breath before hopping to the right side of the steps and hurrying up them as quickly as she could. Several began to give way beneath her, but she managed to make it to the top before falling through, once again. Once she was standing on the second floor, she glanced back, opening her right hand at her side. A moment later, the stairs were perfectly formed, once again.  


“Holy shit!”  


Chloe moved to the bottom of them, glancing up at her.  


“Dude, that still freaks me out no matter how many times I see it happen.”  


Max simply smirked before turning back to the second floor and glancing off to her left. The door to Joyce’s room was closed, so she took a deep breath and began to tiptoe toward it, testing each step ahead of her before committing. The wooden floor creaked and groaned in protest, but no spots gave way, so she reached for the doorknob. It seemed reluctant to turn, at first, but once it did, the door itself wouldn’t budge. She frowned and pushed harder, but nothing happened. Finally, she resorted to slamming her shoulder against it. As she did, the door gave way with a loud groan, but she also heard the sound of a much deeper groaning and creaking around her and she froze.  


“Shit, shit, shit…”  


She quickly stepped inside the doorway and raised her right hand just as she saw a large crack form in the wall beside her. A moment later, the door was closed and she was left in silence, once again, the wall fully formed and undamaged. With a heavy sigh, she turned back to the room.  


“Why the hell did I do this, again?”  


The window in the bedroom, like the others in the house, had been blown out, although she could only see a few pieces of glass scattered here and there on the carpet. She slowly moved farther into the room, freezing at the sound of low groaning and creaking, but after several seconds, nothing had happened, so she pressed on toward the far corner. The dresser Chloe had mentioned still stood, although anything that had been on top of it was long gone. Holding her breath, she stopped before it and pulled on the top drawer. Almost immediately, a low groan filled the room and the next moment the dresser began to sink before her to the sound of cracking wood. Her eyes widened as she quickly held her right hand open before her, the dresser rising from the hole in the floor.  


“Jesus…”  


With a frown, she flexed her fingers before concentrating carefully on the dresser. A moment later, all ambient sound seemed to slip away, leaving her in a silence deeper than what she had already experienced in the house. No sounds of wind in trees or other sounds of nature came through the broken window, and no telltale creaks and groans came from the house. Immediately, her temples began to throb, so she quickly reached forward with her left hand.  


Her motions felt like she was weighed down with sandbags, but she was finally able to pull the top drawer open without the dresser crashing through the floor. As she did, she immediately saw what she had come for: the photo of the three Prices, alive and happy, was resting on top of the clothing. As her fingers closed around the frame, the pain in her temples suddenly shot across her forehead and then back down the center of her skull, prompting her to let out a moan of pain and press her free hand to her forehead. As she did, she suddenly froze. A gust of wind whistled through the open window, followed soon after by the sound of her heartbeat pounding in her ears.  


The floor began to creak and groan as she yanked her left hand back, pulling the picture frame with it. A moment later, the floor gave way beneath the dresser and it fell through, leaving Max stumbling back from the hole. Each footstep elicited more groans and creaks until they had built to a cacophony around her. She desperately raised her right hand before her, but she only saw a brief flash of light before the skull-splitting pain returned and she screamed in pain. The sounds continued around her for a moment before everything suddenly fell silent.  


Max looked around the room for a few moments, ignoring the sensation of something hot and wet running over her lips. Before she could even attempt to reach up to wipe it away, however, another sound made her freeze where she was. Her eyes scanned the room, finally coming to rest on the beam of sunlight shining through the open window frame. The small dust particles suspended in it appeared entirely still, and it dawned on her, once again, how incredibly silent everything was. Everything except for one muffled voice.  


“Max?”  


She turned her head toward the door to the room, her heart beat beginning to pound in her ears. Her head still throbbed with pain, but it didn’t feel the same as when she had intentionally held time still moments ago.  


“No… oh no…”  


After several long moments, she finally began to walk toward the door, her legs feeling like she was wading through waist-deep water. Finally, she reached the wooden portal and gripped the metal doorknob tightly. It seemed much easier to open this time, and when she did, the voice grew louder.  


“Max?”  


It was beginning to sound slightly more frantic, which only made the hair on the back of her neck stand up even straighter. Finally, she summoned the courage to step from Joyce’s room and slowly moved toward the top of the stairs. As she glanced down at the bottom of them, the image of Chloe frozen mid-pace, glancing up at her, greeted her, but she had the same still quality as the flecks of dust in the sunlight moments ago. Her chest didn’t even rise and fall as she stood there, perfectly preserved in time like a statue.  


“Max?”  


The voice was louder now, yet still somewhat muffled. She closed her eyes tightly, gripping the picture frame in her left hand with a death grip for several moments before she found herself turning toward the door immediately to her left. The voice was most definitely coming from inside it. As she reached toward the doorknob, it seemed to come apart and fall onto the floor, the entire unit falling from the wooden frame. Her eyes widened as the door began to slowly drift open, despite there being no semblance of a draft behind her. As it swung wide, she found a feeling of nausea building in her throat. Her knees were shaking as her free hand pushed against the surface of the door, forcing it open somewhat quicker.  


Immediately, the room beyond came into view. The space was bathed in the harsh, white glow of the midday sun, made even more prominent by the large hole in the ceiling over what had previously been the queen bed in the corner. Debris littered the space, looking much more like a tornado had struck the room than the rest of the house. Posters and scraps of paper littered the floor, while the large, wooden plank that had once been used to organize all of the various pieces of evidence they had collected on Nathan that had led them to the barn was face-down in the center of the floor, almost entirely broken in two.  


What immediately drew her attention, though, was the body lying on its stomach on the bed, arms spread out to either side. Max’s breath caught in her throat as she froze in the doorway, suddenly unable to move any closer. The body slowly began to move, seemingly attempting to flop onto its back. The movements seemed unnatural, however, like its skeleton wasn’t fully connected correctly. Finally, however, the body flipped over, almost immediately sliding off the end of the bed and falling into a sitting position, back propped up against the foot of the mattress.  


“Max…”  


The image of Chloe, body slack and eyes mostly-glazed over elicited a choked sound that almost could have been a sob from the brunette, who suddenly fell against the doorframe, her legs feeling unable to hold her weight any longer.  


“Max… you left me…”  


“You’re dead… you’re dead…”  


“Not quite, Max.”  


“Yes, you are!”  


“No, Max. I’m not dead in your head. I wish.”  


“Fuck!”  


Max suddenly slammed her hand down on the ground to the sound of breaking glass and she froze for a moment. When she looked down, she realized that she had swung the hand holding the picture frame, and the glass on its front was now shattered, several of the smaller pieces resting on the floor while some of the bigger ones still managed to hold in place inside their wooden holder.  


“Now why’d you do that?”  


“Fuck you!”  


She glared up at the image of the ragdoll Chloe, her jaw clenching tightly.  


“You’re not real, just like all of those other fuckers.”  


“I _was_ real. You’re the one who just faded out of existence.”  


“What was I supposed to do?”  


“I mean, I don’t blame you, but… fuck, this kinda sucks.”  


Max began to shake her head, letting herself slide to the floor as she folded her arms on top of her knees and buried her head in them.  


“I guess this is kinda like what the me in that hospital bed felt.”  


“Stop!”  


Max’s voice was incredibly raspy and raw as she looked over at the ragdoll Chloe, once again, her heart freezing for a second at the sight of her sightless, glassy eyes.  


“Stop…”  


“Sorry, Max, it’s just… I haven’t seen you…”  


“I can’t… I can’t…”  


“I wish I could have been the one you told the roof was going to fall on her, and not the one who got crushed by a couple hundred pounds of old house. Funny, step-dick always used to say Rachel was going be the death of me…”  


Max shook her head, finally shooting to her feet, once again, and turned away from the room.  


“Max, wait!”  


She froze in place, closing her eyes for a moment before slowly turning back to the room.  


“Please… can… can I… fuck… can I get a kiss goodbye… one last time?”  


Max’s eyes widened as her extremities went numb. She nearly dropped the picture frame in her hand, but managed to hold on at the last second. Her head slowly began to shake as her lower lip trembled.  


“I can’t… I can’t…”  


“Max…!”  


Ragdoll Chloe’s voice was pleading as the brunette began to back out of the room, her feet instinctually carrying her away from the sight of her broken friend. She continued to shout her name, but Max stopped hearing it, raising her hands to cover her ears as she shook her head more violently. Finally, the shouting stopped and she slowly looked toward the door to find it closed, once again. A moment later, creaking and groaning around her began to fill the empty space and her head whipped around.  


“Oh, fuck me!”  


A moment later, the wood beneath her feet collapsed and she was left falling straight through a hole that had opened beneath her. Jagged edges of wooden beams tore at her clothing as she fell, some managing to break through and lacerate her skin, as well, before she suddenly found herself in the open air. She could have sworn the world around her slowed to a crawl for a moment or two, but the next thing she knew, her feet slammed into the hard ground and she found herself falling backward as pain shot up her legs, through her hips, and up her spine. Another scream of pain tore itself from her as she fell to the soggy floor beneath her, the picture frame flying from her grasp and skittering several feet away.  


Everything around her finally fell still as she stared up at the off-white ceiling, a Max-sized hole now in the dead center of it. Something almost like laughter escaped her before the pain caught up, once again, and it turned into a whimper, her back arching off the floor. The next thing she knew, something blue had filled her vision, and she blinked rapidly to see if it would clear. When it didn’t, she began to realize that it was actually a physical object over her: a pair of eyes beneath a shock of similarly colored hair.  


“Max, can you hear me?!”  


Chloe’s voice broke her haze as she coughed, immediately feeling pain shoot through her body, once again.  


“Jesus, Max, say something!”  


“Ow.”  


Chloe let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob as her hands tightened around Max’s jacket and she leaned forward, pressing her forehead against her shoulder. When she finally returned to a kneeling position, her eyes were red and wet trails were running down her cheeks.  


“Fuck, dude, why didn’t you rewind?”  


“C-couldn’t…”  


Max reached up to run her hand under her nose, the back of it coming away bright vermilion.  


“Fuck, fuck, fuck!”  


Chloe looked her over once before returning her attention to her face.  


“Do you think you broke anything?”  


“I don’t know, but god _damn_ does everything hurt.”  


“Can you sit up?”  


As Max went to try, pain shot up her spine and she grit her teeth against the groan that tried to escape her.  


“Shit, shit, goddammit… it’s not like we can just call an ambulance…”  


After a few moments of grinding her teeth as Chloe muttered aloud about what they could do, Max finally grabbed her shoulder in a vice grip before using it to help pull herself into a sitting position. Once the other girl saw what she was trying to do, she placed one arm behind her back and helped her until she was able to support herself.  


“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”  


Chloe kept repeating herself as Max kept her death grip on one of her shoulders, her jaw clenched so tightly that she half-expected one of her teeth to crack.  


“I shouldn’t have even given you the idea…”  


“Well… too late.”  


That didn’t seem to help, only making her look more distraught. Finally, Max sighed and nodded over the other girl’s shoulder.  


“It’s… over there.”  


Chloe looked confused, but as she glanced over her shoulder, she froze for a moment before glancing back at Max, her mouth slightly open. Finally, she turned so she could reach out with one foot and dragged the picture frame toward her. Once it was within arm’s reach, she lifted it off the floor, shards of glass remaining on the ground, along with a thin piece of glossy paper. She tossed the wooden frame aside before gingerly lifting the picture and holding it so both of them could see. They stared at it for several moments before Chloe finally turned back to Max, her eyes no less watery than before.  


“Don’t… don’t say I never did anything for you.”  


After several long moments, they both began to laugh, although Chloe’s sounded more like sobs. They remained on the floor for another minute or two before Max finally heaved a heavy sigh.  


“Well, no use just sitting around here all day, especially after I broke the house.”  


“You sure you can walk?”  


“Probably not by myself.”  


Chloe bit her lip but nodded, folding the photo in half and carefully stashing it in her jacket pocket before sliding her arm so that her hand was placed firmly in the center of Max’s back. A moment later, she hopped to her feet and moved behind the brunette. Her hands appeared beneath Max’s armpits and she let out a heavy sigh before helping drag her to her feet. A whimper escaped the brunette as pain exploded throughout her body, but she pushed through it, eventually managing to reach a somewhat standing position. As she had guessed, the pain of trying to walk on her own was too great, so Chloe quickly pulled her arm over her own shoulders and gripped her wrist with a vice-like intensity.  


“Come on, maybe if we get to Blackwell, there’ll be a medic or something…”  


Max’s eyes widened and she began to shake her head as Chloe dragged her toward the front door.  


“N-no, Chloe, not the school—”  


“Max, the nearest hospital is hella far away. I’m sure a disaster relief camp has to have somebody who can help.”  


“C-Chloe, no…”  


“Max, it’s my fault you got hurt, please just let me help!”  


Despite the brunette’s protests, she had clearly made up her mind as she brought her to the truck, once again. She yanked the passenger door open and carefully placed her in the seat, closing the door a moment later and rushing around the front to clamber into the driver’s seat. Max gripped the door with an intense grimace to hold herself still, but took her hand away as the vibration of the engine sent even more pain shooting up her arm and across her shoulders.  


“Fuck, fuck, fuck!”  


Chloe punched the steering wheel before letting out a deep exhale and shifting the truck into gear. The drive to the school took slightly longer than she remembered as they had to keep taking detours around roads too cluttered with debris to pass, but as the remnants of the brick building came into view, Max found a whimper escaping her lips, once again.  


“Chloe…”  


“We’re almost there!”  


Within moments, the truck skidded to a stop at the curb in front of the front steps to the former courtyard, the engine coming to a halt a second later. Before Max could even take in the view of the old school, the former swimming and athletic complex almost entirely caved in and the main tower in the center of the school building cleaved in half, her door was thrown open and Chloe’s arms carefully extracted her from her seat.  


Each step or bump from Chloe’s haphazard dash down the steps on the other side of the road toward the football field sent more pain shooting through Max, but despite how much she clenched her jaw against it, she couldn’t stop the sounds of pain that escaped her lips. The taller girl swore and apologized each time she made a noise, but they quickly reached the bottom and she began to drag her toward the first large, white tent they saw. Someone appeared from one end, a curious expression on his face before he caught sight of the two girls.  


“What happened?”  


The man was tall with a bushy red beard and a shaved head; his windbreaker with the FEMA logo immediately told them enough for Chloe to make a beeline for him.  


“She’s hurt!”  


“How? What happened?”  


“Fell through the floor.”  


“Wait… you were in a building?”  


“Yes, now can you help her, dude?!”  


He nodded, appearing on Max’s other side and helping bear her weight over his shoulders, as well. They maneuvered through the field of tents until they came to another large one, this time sporting a red cross on the side. As soon as they were inside, a woman with dark hair pulled into a tight ponytail rushed over to them.  


“What happened?”  


“They said a floor gave way on her and she fell.”  


“How far?”  


“Just one floor below.”  


The woman nodded and indicated for them to follow her. She led the way to an empty bed and they carefully placed Max on it to a long, drawn-out groan from the brunette.  


“What’s your name?”  


The woman leaned over her, bringing out a flashlight and shining it into each one of Max’s eyes for a second or two at a time.  


“M-Max…”  


“Okay Max, how did you land? On your feet?”  


“At first…”  


“What kind of surface? Concrete?”  


“Carpet?”  


“It’s, uh, wood floor beneath.”  


The woman, presumably a doctor, glanced over at Chloe before nodding.  


“You were with her?”  


“Yeah. I-it was… my house…”  


The doctor’s lips drew into a thin line for a moment before she sighed and turned her attention back to Max, looking her over as she carefully poked and prodded at various points, as well.  


“How would you rate the pain from that, Max?”  


“Uh… painful?”  


“One to ten?”  


“Six.”  


“Nothing immediately looks broken, but I don’t think we’ll be able to tell until I do a bit more. Minor lacerations on her right forearm and left shin.”  


The doctor slid her hand behind Max’s head, gently running her fingers from her neck up through her hair before frowning slightly.  


“Appears to be another on the back of her head, but no signs of concussion, so it must not be from a hard hit. Since you were carrying her, I assume she can’t walk on her own?”  


Chloe hesitated for a moment before seemingly realizing she was addressing her and blinking rapidly.  


“Y-yeah, she didn’t seem able.”  


“Seems to at least be a sprained ankle or two, possibly some pelvic or spinal injuries, but again…”  


“Can you help her here?”  


The doctor frowned, straightening up as she slid her small flashlight back into an inner pocket in her jacket.  


“I can’t do much for the possible sprains other than give her splints to hold them still for now, and treat her cuts. To make sure nothing more serious has happened to her, she needs to go to an actual hospital for X-rays, maybe an MRI.”  


“How far away is that?”  


“We can have an ambulance here in about forty-five minutes.”  


Chloe looked distraught so the doctor leaned across the bed, placing a hand on her shoulder.  


“She’s not going to die in that time.”  


With a small smile, she released Chloe and looked down at Max.  


“I can give you some mild painkillers to help with the pain for now, if you’d like.”  


Max nodded slowly and the doctor excused herself to grab them. Chloe’s beanie was in her hands as she twisted and pulled at it, seemingly unable to hold still.  


“You… heard her,” Max managed, looking up at her.  


Chloe glanced down at her, but her nervous wringing didn’t stop.  


“I’m not dying.”  


“I know, I know, but…”  


“Don’t… don’t you dare blame yourself…”  


“But it _is_ my fault!”  


“Fucking hell, Chloe…”  


That seemed to get her to hold still, her wide eyes fixated on the brunette.  


“I had every chance to say no and just keep us both from going up there. I offered to go…”  


“But—”  


“No more fucking ‘buts,’ okay?!”  


The taller girl recoiled slightly at the sudden, fiery outburst from her diminutive friend, the brunette’s eyes burning into her.  


“I do stupid shit, too, you know.”  


Chloe didn’t seem to know how to respond, but finally nodded, hanging her head for a moment before the doctor returned to the bed with a bottle of water and a small plastic cup.  


“Here, nothing too crazy, so don’t get excited,” she quipped, smirking as she handed the cup to Max, who gingerly took it from her and dumped the pills into her mouth.  


Before the doctor could even give her the water bottle, she swallowed them dry, prompting a surprised expression from the woman before a laugh broke out of her.  


“A professional, I see.”  


Max grimaced slightly but still take the water bottle when she offered it to her.  


“I radioed out for that ambulance. Like I said, should be about forty-five minutes before it gets here. I’ll take a look at these cuts for now and make sure none of them get infected.”  


The doctor turned to leave the bedside, once again, and as she did, Max caught sight of the opening to the tent, more specifically the figure that now stood in it. At first, she thought it might have been the man from earlier, but as she focused on the outline, she quickly began to realize that it was an entirely different person, and a small whimper escaped her.  


“It’s okay Max, the drugs’ll kick in soon…”  


She ignored Chloe, instead watching the figure move closer each time she blinked, although she never saw his feet move. Finally, after one last, panicked blink, the image of Frank Bowers stood over her, half of his face scorched and black while various rips and tears in his soaking wet clothes showed more open wounds and burn marks.  


“You came back, Max,” he growled, a slight lisp to his voice as one half of his lips didn’t seem to want to respond, fully.  


She began to shake her head, closing her eyes as she did, but she could still sense the presence next to her.  


“Even brought the bitch with you. Real nice touch. Gloat about how you pissed everyone else’s lives away.”  


“I can’t do this… I can’t do this…”  


“Sure you can.”  


A new voice broke in and she physically flinched, her eyes closing even tighter as bright shapes began to appear before her.  


“The best part: you already did.”  


As she slowly cracked her eyes open, her gaze first fell on the distraught Chloe, who had returned to wringing her beanie tightly in her hands. Her lips moved, but she couldn’t hear her, for whatever reason. As her gaze slowly moved to the left, she found an even more burned and charred figure beside her. Unlike Frank, this figure’s face was almost completely unrecognizable, the lips and eyelids seemingly burned away as the almost skeletal face stared down at her. Despite this, she could immediately recognize the voice, no matter how gravelly or rough it sounded.  


“You already made the choice to leave us here and run off. Guess that was too much to ask for myself, though.”  


Max slowly began to shake her head, once again, her body slowly beginning to curl into a fetal position, even as pain shot through her back at the motion.  


“Max?”  


The two walking, charred corpses continued to loom over her, but other voices were beginning to reach her ears. Suddenly, the barbequed Warren reached one hand toward her, gripping her arm, and she let out a scream in terror at the sensation of someone actually touching her.  


“Max! Max! It’s okay! It’s okay!”  


The next blink removed the two specters and instead left her staring up at Chloe, the one actually gripping her arm, and the doctor, who was looking down at her with a slight frown.  


“Shh, shh, calm down, calm down…”  


Max continued to squirm under her grasp, wrapping herself in a tight hug as she shook her head, trying not to look up at either of the women over her in case the other two came back.  


“The doc’s back. She’s gonna give you some bandaids, okay?”  


“I can’t… I can’t do this…”  


“Max, she’s not gonna hurt you.”  


“No, not t-that…”  


Chloe looked confused before glancing over at the doctor on the other side of the bed. A moment later, she rose to her feet and followed the other woman a few feet away. Even though they spoke in hushed tones, Max could make out a word here and there.  


“Suffering… PTSD… guilt…”  


“Can’t…. can’t…”  


Max suddenly clawed at her torso until she found the strap to her bag. Once her fingers found the rough fabric, they followed it around her side until she found the main compartment latch. Throwing it open, she rooted inside until her hand found the cover of the small, black book, and she quickly yanked it free. The journal fell open on the bed before her as she hurriedly flipped through the pages. She was vaguely aware of voices calling her name from nearby, but she ignored them and flipped through the pages faster. Finally, she came to a stop and flipped back one to find what she was looking for.  


The sound of arguing voices began to build faintly in her ears as she stared down at the picture of the butterfly before her. Before they could grow too loud, however, she caught sight of a figure before her and glanced up. An uncontrollable sob escaped her at the sight of the woman that looked like the skin of her face had been burnt off, half of her blonde hair singed or missing, as well.  


“I thought you were going to be a good influence, Max.”  


The image of Chloe moved in front of Joyce and their eyes met for a moment.  


“I’m sorry…”  


“Max? What are you doing?”  


Before Chloe could say or do anything else, Max focused on the photograph before her. The pain in her body disappeared almost instantly, as well as the feeling of the cot beneath her. She stared down at the cleaning pail for several moments before slowly moving to place the camera and the photograph in her bag, as if in a trance. Her back fell against the bathroom stall as she slowly sank into a seated position on the ground, folding her arms on top of her knees and burying her face in them.  


Within a minute, the entire scene was over, and the gunshot rang throughout the bathroom, once again.  


The next thing she knew, her eyes were fluttering open to the sight of an off-white ceiling. She stared up at it for several long moments before heaving a heavy sigh. The pain was still gone, although she felt rather warm and could feel the mostly-dried sweat on her skin. The warm glow from her left told her the sun was either coming up or going down, but she didn’t turn her head to find out.  


A moment later, however, motion beside her caused her to freeze. It continued as her gaze slowly began to turn to her right to find a head of blonde hair resting on her shoulder. The figure continued to stir for several moments before a deep yawn escaped her. Finally, she turned her head somewhat to look toward Max and she sighed softly.  


“So that happened again…”  


“What’s that, Max?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've been reading and enjoying this so far, feel free to leave a comment! I'd love to hear what people think.


	5. Back to the Future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a couple of weeks. My bad.
> 
> Here's a bit of a peace offering? Don't think anything in this chapter warrants an "explicit" rating, but feel free to tell me if I'm wrong, once again.

Greta blinked sleepily up at her as a smile pulled at her lips.  


“Oh, nothing…”  


She rubbed her eyes with her free hand as the blonde sighed happily and shifted her grip around Max’s right arm.  


“Didn’t mean to wake you up so early, babe.”  


A strange twinge shot through Max’s gut at the pet name, but she tried to control her outward reaction as best she could.  


“Mmm… should I call out this morning?”  


“Hmm, what?”  


Greta laughed softly, nuzzling into the crook of Max’s neck for a moment.  


“Maybe I should just let you get more sleep.”  


“I-I—uh—probably can’t go back to sleep.”  


Concern creased the blonde’s face as she looked up at her.  


“Everything okay?”  


“Yeah, just… bad dream.”  


A slight frown appeared on Greta’s face as one of her hands slid down into Max’s, her fingers threading between the brunette’s before giving it a secure squeeze.  


“Wasn’t because of me, was it?”  


“No, no…”  


Max shook her head as the frown began to slowly dissipate on the blonde’s face, but the look of concern remained. A moment later, she pulled herself closer and placed a gentle kiss on Max’s cheek before laying her own on the brunette’s shoulder.  


“If there’s anything I can do, babe…”  


“It’s fine. It’ll pass… like always…”  


Max caught sight of motion beneath the bedsheets and a moment later she felt one of Greta’s fingernails gently dragging across the bare skin of her stomach and she shivered slightly.  


“You’re always so ticklish.”  


The blonde laughed softly, but continued to trace lines across Max’s skin. Despite the initial reaction, she found herself slowly becoming more relaxed by the motion. After several long moments of this, she rolled her head to the side slightly to look over at Greta, once again. Her hair was a mess and splayed partially across Max’s shoulder, but mostly across the pillow behind her. The sunlight from the windows to the left lit up her face with a warm glow that seemed to cause it to radiate slightly, making her features seem even softer. The girl’s eyes were closed, so she didn’t immediately notice Max’s gaze taking in the look of serenity that had replaced the worry from moments ago. Slowly, her eyes cracked open, though, and met hers, a smile pulling at her features.  


Max ran her tongue over her lower lip, where it felt dry enough that she thought it might be bleeding, but the other girl seemed to take this as a different sign and moved her head toward hers a bit more. Before she could really comprehend what she was doing, Max leaned into the kiss, as well. It started soft and slow, but quickly seemed to grow into something more as she began to turn her body toward her, as well, one hand reaching up to cup the blonde’s face.  


Greta pulled herself closer to Max, pressing herself insistently up against the brunette as her fingers found their way around her side and onto her back. The struggle continued for a minute or so before Greta pulled away from Max, placing one finger to her lips as a smirk tugged at her own.  


“I’ll call out.”  


Max laughed softly as Greta disentangled herself from the brunette and slid from beneath the sheets. She watched her hurry toward the door to the living room, noticing how the sunlight made the rest of her skin glow as her face had minutes ago. The blonde shot her one more smile over her shoulder before disappearing through the doorway. Max let out a heavy sigh as she fell back on her pillows, arms splayed to either side of her.  


“What a trip…”  


She slowly shook her head before glancing to her left. A small nightstand stood next to her bed, its surface cluttered with a book, several CD cases, a small alarm clock, and finally her phone. Max groaned as she shifted closer and reached for it, finally managing to pull the device closer to her and into the palm of her hand.  


As the screen came to life, she saw that she had evidently forgotten to charge it, once again, but there was enough to still use it for the time being. Several text messages confronted her immediately, so she scrolled through them.  


One was from Kate, thanking her for getting coffee with her the day before. One was from Dana, asking her to “bring your girly” to something that night. Another was from her old boss, asking her to come in for a shift on Saturday morning.  


“Apparently not my old boss anymore…”  


The last text was somewhat of a surprise, however.  


“You still bum around Seattle?”  


She stared at the sender for several long moments, blinking slowly. Victoria Chase was not a name she had expected to see on her phone. Overcome with curiosity, she entered the conversation thread and scrolled back through their previous messages. There were far more than she had expected, or seen before, stretching back for months and months.  


“Yeah, I—”  


“You need to call out?”  


Her attention was ripped from her phone by the sound of Greta’s voice across the room. As she whipped her head around toward her, she found the girl leaning up against the doorframe, a grin spread across her face. Max found her heart rate pounding in her ears as she took in the image of the nude, seemingly glowing girl in her doorway.  


“Nope, already had the day off.”  


“Good.”  


Greta made her way to the foot of the bed before climbing onto it and crawling toward her on her hands and knees. Max dropped her phone off the edge of the bed, her text long forgotten as the other girl reached her. A moment later, the blonde leaned down toward her, planting a slow kiss on her lips before pulling away just as slowly, but only an inch or two. They each had just enough time to take a breath before Max lunged forward, pulling her into yet another kiss.  


This one lasted for much less time, however, before they broke apart. Almost immediately, Greta began to paw at the top of the sheets, desperately trying to pull them away from Max as quickly as possible. A moment later, she was successful, leaving the brunette to shiver as a cool breeze blew across her skin. Greta grinned before placing a kiss just below Max’s navel, and then another just above it, and continuing on up and over her chest, before finally reaching her lips, laying on top of the shorter girl as she did.  


The next several minutes seemed to pass in a blur of blonde hair, tangled bodies, sweat, and soft moans and sighs, until Max seemed to come to, once again, lying on her side and utterly entangled in Greta’s limbs, panting as the blonde pressed her forehead against hers. Neither seemed able to speak for several moments before Greta let out a sound somewhere between a quiet moan and a whine.  


“Fuck, Max…”  


The brunette’s hands slowly slid over her back, feeling several narrow, jagged lines on the otherwise smooth surface.  


“Jesus Christ, babe…”  


Finally, Greta let out a soft laugh, followed by a content sigh as she tilted her head to press another kiss to her lips, her hips pressing forward against Max’s left thigh for a moment as she did. A moment later, she relaxed, once again, all of the tension in her body melting away as she nuzzled into the crook of Max’s neck, her hair tickling the brunette’s chin as she did. She could feel more soft kisses pressed against the side of her neck and her shoulder as her hands continued to run slowly up and down Greta’s back, one of them finally reaching up to slowly run through her hair.  


“Definitely better than eight A.M. Marketing 103.”  


Max laughed at the blonde’s muffled comment, massaging her scalp slightly as she did, prompting a low moan from her.  


“Ohhh, that’s it, babe, right there…”  


She could feel the other girl squirm against her slightly, but continued to rub her fingers slowly through her hair and against her head. If it were possible, she somehow seemed to grow even more relaxed, bordering on going entirely limp, at this motion. Finally, after several minutes, Max began to wonder if she had fallen asleep, but she began to stir almost immediately after this thought crossed her mind.  


“You okay, Max?”  


As she pulled her head back and lifted it slightly toward her, the brunette could have sworn her hair was blue, like her eyes, but a moment later it was blonde, once again, and her eyes had much more green in them.  


“Uh, y-yeah…”  


“You don’t totally sound like it…”  


“Just…”  


“Nightmares, I know.”  


Greta sighed softly, massaging Max’s back slowly.  


“I thought they were getting better.”  


Max stiffened for a moment, but quickly tried to hide it as the blonde’s motions paused, as well.  


“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”  


“No, no, it’s not—it’s nothing you said.”  


Greta didn’t look convinced, but nodded slowly. Max sighed and squeezed her side slightly, where her hand lay.  


“Just… I did, too.”  


The blonde frowned slightly, but continued her massaging motions.  


“I wish I knew how to make you feel better…”  


Max sighed heavily, letting her head fall on her pillow as she stared back at the girl across from her.  


“Me, too… me, too.”  


They remained in bed long enough for the sunlight to turn from the early morning reds and oranges to a more neutral, golden color before Greta sighed and began to stir, once again.  


“Since I’m already missing out on class, breakfast?”  


“Who’s making?”  


“I was thinking Dirk’s?”  


Max looked at her with confusion as the other girl rolled her eyes dramatically.  


“You know, ‘best fucking huevos rancheros ever’ that are ‘an orgasm in your mouth?’’  


Realization seemed to dawn on the brunette as she nodded and Greta laughed, slapping her on the back of the shoulder playfully.  


“What you really need is coffee, it seems.”  


Max laughed along, but inside she was desperately wracking her mind to remember where this Dirk’s place was. Thankfully, Greta didn’t push her further, though. They eventually made their way out of the bed, Max quickly throwing on the shirt and pair of shorts that she recognized as hers before heading into the living space of the apartment. Everything was more or less as she remembered before her most recent trip through the photograph, although her couch seemed to sport a new, purple stain on one arm. She ran her fingers over it for a moment before sighing and moving into the kitchen. The same photograph was clipped to the front of the fridge, although it looked somewhat more intact and clean this time, with fewer nicks and tears. As she opened the fridge, she sighed happily at the sight of actual food in it.  


“She is good for something, after all…”  


Ignoring the food, for now, she searched the countertops until she found a box of cheap K-Cups and a Keurig machine that had definitely seen better days. With a smirk, she opened it and threw the used cup inside in the paper bag on the floor next to the counter.  


“Sure beats the old shit pot.”  


“I’m surprised you haven’t thrown that thing out, yet.”  


She jumped slightly at the sound of Greta’s voice, but glanced over her shoulder a moment later. When she did, she nearly dropped the new cup in her hand. Instead of the blonde girl from her bed a moment ago, Chloe minus the blue hair leaned against the opposite side of the island-like section of her counter, a smirk set into her features.  


“It’d be one thing with just the hair…”  


“What’s that?”  


A blink later and the image of Greta stood in her place, although Max nearly jumped once again when she realized that she had done little else than put on a red, purple, and black flannel, leaving the front entirely unbuttoned.  


“Uh, n-nothing, uh… I said… this light really works for your hair?”  


Greta looked confused for a moment, but reached up to twirl one finger in the end of her golden locks; a grin quickly overtaking her face as she laughed softly.  


“Always such a romantic.”  


Max snorted slightly as she turned back to the Keurig machine and slid the new cup in place, closing the lid and jabbing the button for the mid-size coffee cup size. A moment later, arms wrapped around her from behind, clasping over her stomach, and she felt how closely Greta was to her; she could practically feel every curve and shape of the girl through her back, alone.  


“Can I steal this flannel for a bit?”  


“Aren’t you already?”  


“I didn’t think you’d mind.”  


Max rolled her eyes as the other girl laughed into her shoulder.  


“By the way, your phone buzzed after you left.”  


“Yeah?”  


“Mhm, just a text though.”  


“Did you look?”  


Greta scoffed, squeezing her midriff with a little more force and prompting Max to make a noise in discomfort.  


“I’m not a snoop like you, Max.”  


“Harsh.”  


“But true.”  


A moment later, the Keurig finished and before Max could even move to grab the cup, Greta’s hands shot from around her and onto the handle. She looked over her shoulder to see the blonde giving her the largest puppy eyes she had ever seen.  


“I’ll make you one while you go check your phone?”  


“What makes you think it’s so important?”  


“I just want coffee really badly, and… it’s an excuse?”  


After a few moments, Max sighed and the other girl laughed, allowing her to step away and move toward her bedroom.  


“In that case there better be a cup waiting for me when I get back.”  


“Of course!”  


She heard the sound of the used K-cup being tossed in the bag as she entered her room and sighed, rubbing her hands over her face.  


“Welcome back, Max.”  


She made her way to where she had dropped her phone on the floor earlier and retrieved it. The battery had only gone down by a few percent, but she still frowned and began to reach for the charger plugged into the wall, nearby, as she navigated to the messaging app at the same time. The new text turned out to be an automated one telling her that her account would be charged in three days for the next month’s cycle.  


“Gee, thanks…”  


With a grumbled remark under her breath, as well, she moved back to the main list of texts and, once again, Victoria’s name caught her eye. She brought up the partially-completed text and stared at the message from her former antagonist.  


“You still bum around Seattle?”  


Biting her lower lip for a moment, she quickly typed out a response.  


“Yeah, I guess I kinda do.”  


With the response sent, she carried the phone and its charger back toward the kitchen. True to her word, Greta slid a full cop of steaming coffee across the island to her before leaning forward against it, herself, coffee mug held in both hands before her. Additionally, Max noticed how much she was able to see straight down through the open shirt.  


“So, what was it?”  


“The overlords taking more money from me soon.”  


“It’s not the first…”  


“No, the other overlords. The phone ones.”  


Greta nodded, taking a sip from her coffee as Max plugged her phone in with the outlet on the wall to her right.  


“So… I’m feeling like getting out a bit this weekend…”  


Max let out a short laugh as she grabbed her coffee and blew on it.  


“Well, as luck would have it…”  


Greta perked up at that, listening intently.  


“Dana messaged me about something tonight…”  


“Let’s go!”  


She was surprised by the sudden insistence, but quickly laughed as she blew on the coffee, once again.  


“Someone’s excited for a Dana party…”  


“I’ve never been to one, but from what you say about her…”  


Max’s face screwed up in confusion for a moment as she looked over the steam from her cup toward the blonde across from her.  


“You haven’t met Dana, yet?”  


“No, and I was starting to wonder if you made her up.”  


Greta laughed as Max made a mental note, finally braving a sip of her steaming hot coffee.  


“She sounds like a lot of fun.”  


“She’s… a lot.”  


They both laughed before Greta tilted her mug back and finished off whatever was left in her cup.  


“I want to take a shower before we head out, though, and you probably should, too, or else everyone will be able to smell what we did on us.”  


She wiggled her eyebrows slightly as Max made a face of disgust.  


“Gross.”  


“Speak for yourself.”  


The brunette looked confused as the other girl placed her used mug in the sink and moved around the island. As she passed Max, she ran her hand through her hair, ruffling it as she did.  


“You always have the worst bedhead when you let your hair get long.”  


“Well, _someone_ didn’t help with that…”  


The blonde laughed but quickly placed a kiss to Max’s temple before skipping off into the bedroom. A few moments later, the sound of the shower starting came through the open doorway, but not the door closing. Max laughed under her breath as she shook her head.  


“We’re… incredibly cozy… I guess.”  


Memories of similar behavior from her previous trips through the photograph came back to her and she felt the warmth in her chest extinguish like someone had dumped a bucket of water on a campfire. Her face slowly fell as she wrapped her hands tighter around the mug in her hands. A moment later, motion from near the refrigerator prompted her to glance up and she nearly dropped the warm mug. Chloe stood by the door, pulling some of her hair in front of her face and staring cross-eyed at it for a moment before releasing it and shaking it out of the way.  


“Mmm… if I knew how much you liked blondes, maybe I’d let it go back.”  


Max’s jaw tightened as she stared back at the image of the girl, but said nothing. She was dressed in the same clothes she had just seen her wearing on the ill-fated trip to Arcadia Bay: a black Adidas jacket, dark blue skinny jeans, and a pair of black sneakers, although the beanie seemed to be missing.  


“Not gonna lie: that was kind of a rough break, Max.”  


The image of Chloe suddenly turned more serious as she stared back at her.  


“You were the one who got hurt, but you still bailed.”  


The brunette glanced over her shoulder toward the door to the bedroom, but the sounds of the shower still came softly from within.  


“What did you expect me to do? Just sit there and take more of this shit while also being all fucked up?”  


The image of Chloe sighed and pushed away from the fridge, approaching the island and leaning against it almost exactly as Greta had minutes ago.  


“You weren’t dying—”  


“It doesn’t—matter.”  


“You just abandoned me with someone who doesn’t know what the fuck is going on. Is that better?”  


Max suddenly slammed her mug down on the countertop and leaned forward until she was only inches from the image of Chloe across from her.  


“Better her than me.”  


Just then, she heard the sound of the shower stop and jumped, looking to her right, but Greta didn’t appear from within the room. As she glanced back across the counter, however, the image of Chloe was gone, leaving her alone in the room, once again. With a sigh, she straightened up and finished the last of her coffee, sliding it across the counter so that it sat next to the sink before checking her phone, once again. Evidently, a text had come through, but she hadn’t heard it buzz. As she pulled up the new message, she found herself somewhat surprised by it.  


“Well do you guess you kinda want to catch up this weekend?”  


The fact that Victoria was messaging her was enough of a surprise, but the offer nearly sent her into shock. Before she knew it, her fingers were typing out a response.  


“You’re in town?”  


The response was almost instant, her phone buzzing in her hand before she could even put it down.  


“Wouldn’t be asking otherwise.”  


Max stared down at it for several long moments before offering her response.  


“Tomorrow night work for you?”  


Once again, the response came within seconds, although it was only three letters.  


“Yes.”  


A moment later, a second message came through.  


“Where?”  


She idly tapped her fingers on the back of the phone for several moments before suggesting a dive bar she knew and had frequented.  


“Twilight Exit? Sounds up your alley.”  


Max rolled her eyes but a moment later a second message came through.  


“7 PM?”  


She replied in the affirmative and Victoria left her with one last acknowledgement before a sudden jab in her side caused her to jump and drop her phone by accident.  


“Jeez, didn’t mean to scare you that badly.”  


Greta laughed as she ran her fingers through her still somewhat-wet hair. Thankfully, she had also put on a real set of clothes, which happened to also include the same flannel from before.  


“Your turn.”  


Max nodded and began to head toward the bedroom as Greta moved toward the door to the apartment.  


“I’m gonna quick go grab some new clothes, before we head out. Should be back before you’re done in there, though.”  


Max nodded and gave her a thumbs up in reply, which prompted the other girl to roll her eyes, but smile as she slipped out the front door. With a heavy sigh, Max let her arm fall to her side as she turned and headed into the bathroom. It was still rather warm and muggy from Greta’s shower, so she flipped on the fan before closing the door behind her and self-consciously locking it.  


“Wow, go from cuddling naked in the bed ten minutes ago to being afraid someone will see you in the shower?”  


She closed her eyes as she leaned her head against the door, inhaling deeply through her nose before turning around to face the image of Chloe leaning on the wall to her left. This time, the blue-haired girl was dressed in the tank-top and shorts she had worn in the hotel room where Max had first “woken up” after the event in the photo.  


“I notice you didn’t mind staring the whole time, though,” the image of Chloe continued to tease. “Can’t blame you. Those titties… mmm…”  


She shivered slightly, some of her hair falling in her face, before letting out a loud bout of laughter and brushing the stray strands aside, once again. Max simply glared at the image before stalking past her and turning on the shower.  


“You know, I should be mad you’d so easily just get up all in that girl’s business after you so desperately came back to see me, but… hell, I’d tap that ass, too.”  


“Shut. Up.”  


Max whirled on the image of the taller girl, fists clenched at her sides.  


“Ohh, Bossy Max is back.”  


“For fuck’s sake!”  


Max ran her hands through her hair, gripping it tightly for a moment before letting out a cry of rage and slamming one fist against the wall.  


“You know what? You’re one to talk, seeing as you had your chance, but you shot it down.”  


By the end of her tirade, she was standing directly in front of the image of Chloe, her finger jabbing forcefully into her chest. The thought that she should have been more concerned at how real the sensation of a shirt and a human body felt under her touch crossed her mind, but she quickly pushed it aside.  


“Low blow, Max.”  


“You fight dirty, I fight back.”  


“Touché.”  


With yet another heavy sigh, Max stepped away from the image of the taller girl and stripped off her sleeping clothes. A wolf whistle sounded from behind her, but she ignored it as she stepped into the shower. She took longer than she truly needed, letting the water turn from hot to lukewarm before finishing with rinsing her hair and slamming her hand down on the dial. The sound of dripping water echoed around the inside of the tile tub as she remained motionless for several long seconds. Finally, she let her hand fall by her side and pulled the curtain back to step out. As she did, the sight of another person standing in the room caused her to jump and let out a yelp in surprise, her bare feet nearly slipping in a small puddle that still remained in the center of the shower floor. Instinctually, she yanked the curtain back in front of herself before peering her head around one side.  


“That’s rich.”  


Victoria, pixie cut and fancy sweater as Max remembered from school, folded her arms over her chest, leaning up against the sink.  


“What the fuck is she doing here…?”  


Max glared at her teenage nemesis before reaching to grab the familiar faded blue towel off the nearby rack only to realize that it wasn’t there. Glancing around the room, she realized that there were, in fact, no towels in the entire bathroom.  


“Fuck…”  


“Is Max going to have to put on a show?”  


She glared daggers at the image of Victoria before taking a deep breath and pushing the curtain aside.  


“She’s not real… she’s not real…”  


“Oh, I’m as real as you need me to be.”  


As Max tried to slip by the image, a hand suddenly shot out and grabbed her by the throat, prompting her eyes to widen. A moment later, panic truly began to set in as the teenage Victoria pushed her against the wall, her grip incredibly strong even as the brunette desperately clawed at her hand.  


“You don’t listen, do you, Caulfield?”  


Max continued to struggle against the grip, but the other girl seemed to possess a supernatural level of strength and held her in place. The vice grip on her neck also prevented her from even offering any words in response to the image’s taunts.  


“Over and over, you do the same shit, and get the same result. What do you expect to change?”  


Max uttered a gurgling, strained sound in response, but Victoria didn’t let up.  


“You know what the definition of insanity is, right? And don’t say this right now, because that’s not the fucking point. It’s doing the same thing over… and over… and over… and over again… and expecting a different result. If you want something to change, you have to have the balls to fucking do it.”  


The grip on her neck only seemed to be getting tighter as Max now fought to even get a breath in, bright splotches of light blooming before her as Victoria’s face contorted into an even angrier scowl.  


“But we all know you don’t, and never will. You’re content to wallow in your own fucking misery. ‘Boo hoo, I didn’t kill hundreds of people and I feel guilty about letting one, burnout punk slut die.’ Grow up, Max. The world’s moved on. Time to catch up with it.”  


With that, the image of Victoria finally released her chokehold, but Max’s legs gave out almost immediately, prompting her to fall to the floor with a loud, painful thud. She wheezed as she desperately sucked in air, placing one hand to her neck and wincing at the painful spots where it actually felt like someone had grabbed her moments ago. Despite this, however, the image of Victoria remained before her, and even crouched down so that she was nearly eye-level, yet still retained a small amount of height advantage over her so that the brunette was forced to look up toward her.  


“So what’s it gonna be, Max?”  


“W-what… do you… mean?”  


A twisted smirk tugged at Victoria’s lips as she stared back at her. When she spoke, once again, it wasn’t with her own voice, however, but Kate Marsh’s.  


“You don’t get to have your punk princess, not unless I die.”  


A blink later, and Victoria was replaced with Kate, as well, complete in her soaking wet outfit from the roof of the Blackwell dorm. The next blink and it was Warren, sporting his black eye. Another blink and it was Dana in her previously trademark ripped jeans and low-cut shirt. Blink: Nathan in his orange letter jacket. Blink: Juliet in her denim jacket and short skirt. Blink: Brooke in her graphic hoodie and orange skinny jeans. With each blink, Max tried to look away, but the figure before her kept changing.  


“No… s-stop… stop it!”  


They all kept repeating the same phrase, however, each voice echoing inside her head until the cacophony drowned out everything else around her.  


“Stop it! Stop it! Stop!”  


Finally, one last broke through the maelstrom and her heart nearly stopped at the mere sound. It was the same phrase, but the calm, casual male voice made it seem to carry more weight than any of the others.  


“But, we all know you’ll fuck that up, too, right Max?”  


Her gaze refocused on the image of Mark Jefferson, crouching before her in his white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled to the elbows and his neatly pressed black pants.  


“I thought you had a gift, but now I’m seeing you’re a lot like Rachel. Always looking in the wrong places.”  


Max let out an unintelligible shriek as she kicked out before her, shaking her head violently, as well. A moment later, something wrapped around her in a tight grip and she fought even harder to remove it, but whatever it was had pinned her arms to her side. Finally, after several seconds of desperate fighting, she felt something on her head and she panicked for a moment, only to realize that it felt like someone running their hand over her hair. Her fighting slowed as her senses slowly returned to normal until she finally heard a much more soothing voice in her ear.  


“Max, Max, shh, Max, it’s okay, it’s okay…”  


She blinked rapidly until she found herself staring at the door to the cabinet under her bathroom sink, no more apparitions of enemies and acquaintances past kneeling before it. Something was rocking her slowly from side to side as she numbly glanced down to find a pair of flannel-covered arms wrapped around her chest. As her gaze turned to her right, she found a head of blonde hair inches from her own and for a moment a name formed at the tip of her tongue, but she quickly pulled it back. It wasn’t the right one, anyway.  


“It’s okay, Max… it’s okay… breathe…”  


She slowly reached over and placed one hand on Greta’s knee, prompting the other girl to look her in the eyes, an emotion somewhere between fear and concern in them.  


“Can you hear me, Max?”  


She nodded slowly.  


“Oh thank god…”  


The blonde sighed, leaning so her forehead rested against Max’s.  


“I heard you yelling and screaming when I came back in, but you locked the door, so I had to pick it. Luckily it’s just one of those ones where you need to press the little button with a paper clip or whatever. Are you hurt? It sounded like you fell.”  


“I… uh… slipped.”  


Greta didn’t look convinced, and didn’t remove her arms from around her.  


“Seriously. I… something spooked me for a sec and I slipped.”  


“Max…”  


“I mean it.”  


The blonde sighed, shaking her head before placing a soft kiss on her temple and removing her arms from around the brunette.  


“Let me get you a towel.”  


Once she returned with the one other towel Max actually owned, a purple one with a similar amount of fading and bleach stains, she dried herself off and quickly dressed in the first things she could find, one of which was a T-shirt for a band she didn’t listen to and presumed might actually be Greta’s. This was only confirmed when she stepped into the living room and the other girl looked her over before focusing on the shirt.  


“Oh, that’s where that went.”  


Max glanced down at it for a moment before looking up at her again.  


“Yeah, I—uh—was wondering why I would have a Glassjaw shirt.”  


“I keep telling you that you might like them…”  


Max simply shrugged as Greta rolled her eyes but hopped from her seat in the recliner.  


“You’re impossible, you know that?”  


She shrugged again, but this time it came with the beginnings of a grin.  


“They even existed before 2008, so you can’t use your excuse that they’re ‘too new.’”  


“Whatever, I’m a hipster, blah blah blah… can we get food now?”  


Greta bumped into her with her shoulder, slightly unbalancing Max, who had to catch herself on the wall to prevent herself from truly making an embarrassment of herself.  


“Looks you need it. You’re about ready to blow away.”  


Max tried to retaliate, but the other girl was able to slip away and out the front door into the main hallway before she could land more than a glancing blow on her. With a heavy sigh, Max checked her pockets before following her into the hallway, taking care to lock the door as she did. As she turned toward the main staircase, where Greta was waiting impatiently on the top step, she inhaled deeply, letting it out in a slow, controlled breath.  


“Time to see what happened to the rest of the world, this time.”


End file.
